Mum wasn't at all religious, but she thought that going to the theatre was as important a ceremonial, communal experience that a person could have.

I'm deeply ambitious and I always have been.

The things that prey on my mind in London seem to disappear as soon as I find myself in a different environment. Survival mode kicks in.

My first job was a Greek tragedy, and ever since, one job just seemed to roll onto the next. I've been terribly lucky.

My real self, the self I have always been from a child, is a loner and nerd, slightly overweight, with a very heavy fringe. That is who I was as a kid. I don't think I will ever be anything other than that.

From a very young age, stories fuelled my imagination in the most wonderful way.

I read a lot of heavy literature when I'm on set, so on holiday I want to indulge in something light-hearted.

I've had that experience of not liking people very much, but having tremendous respect for them.

I don't think I'm curvaceous. It's simply that most other actresses are really, stupidly tiny.

I went to drama school for three years, and the whole thing there is that hopefully you are introduced to a man called William Shakespeare who is the greatest of all time of all storytelling.

I loved watching theatre, and film, and television. It was a fantastic outlet and my favourite thing to do. I can't remember the decision. It just felt like a completely natural thing... I just completely felt drawn into it and seduced by it all. I found myself going into it.

The main reason I did 'Captain America' was because I wanted to get out of my own head and stop taking my work so seriously.

I like characters who have faults. I'm drawn to darker people.

I think American guys tend to be a bit more forward, a bit more chatty and open than the Brits. The Brits seem to have a darker sense of humor, though I have met some Americans who have adopted bits of the British dry sense of humor as well.