I think that my parents' divorce gave me a very strong sense of self-reliance and independence. I realised that I needed to make sure I could support myself because you don't know what's going to happen in the future.Collection: Independence
I guess I'm a bit of a romantic.Collection: Romantic
I always had a very strong sense of independence. I really liked being able to buy my Alanis Morissette 'Jagged Little Pill' album. I wore that as a badge of honor. I love not having to rely on anyone.Collection: Independence
In a way, 'Like Crazy' keys into our generation, this idea of now we can still be in communication. Where do the boundaries of relationships end?Collection: Communication
I love going swimming. I spent a lot of time in North London in summer going to Hampstead Heath and swimming in the ponds there. It's so beautiful; we're so lucky to have that in London.
You have to be brave and not always play likeable people. It's difficult, because there's a demand for the hero or heroine to be very likeable.
I was a very rotund child with short hair, and for some reason, I always had black ballet shoes. I was like the Wednesday Addams of ballet.
My mother was in the kind of late-'60s, early-'70s origins of female emancipation. And she was very much like, 'You're not going to be defined by how you look. It's going to be about who you are and what you do.'
In everyday life, I like APC, Isabel Marant, but I also like Zara. It depends how I'm feeling on the day. I like clothes that have a certain strength to them - simple but graphic.
Actors and directors work on things together. That's how I like to work, anyway. I don't want to be told what to do. I want to share it with someone and work it out together.
You have to have a bag of Yorkshire Tea bags. It is the best tea that England has to offer, and that comes with me everywhere I go.
I like to jump into different worlds. I'm attracted to the emotional rollercoaster of acting. Now I've been doing it for so many years, I must rather enjoy it.
A fashion show is like a 10-minute play, but there's all this anticipation; Everyone arriving, finding their seats, then there's 10 minutes of people walking past and clothes and music, then the whole thing is finished.
I am quite fortunate, because I can still be quite incognito. If you go out looking for attention, then you'll attract it, but if you're just getting on with your life, particularly in London where everyone is engrossed in what they're doing, you can keep a measure of anonymity.
When you're a young actor, there's this pressure to rush. But I hope to be doing this into my sixties and seventies, so I'd prefer to take my time.
The key is working with great directors. A film is so many different people and all their talents, but particularly the directors, because of the idiosyncrasies of that person.
I think you're attracted to things that are different from yourself in a character because it's more interesting, and you get to play out a fantasy version of yourself.
There's so much of a desire in the entertainment industry for newness, a desire to build somebody up and then treat them as old news within six months. I think you'd be naive if you didn't try to hold on to your own way of doing things.
Of everything I have done, 'The Archers' always gets the most excitement; there's a sort of uncontrollable joy from fans of the program.
Acting has always existed alongside my normal life. It's been a case of learning on the job. I've worked in so many styles, with so many people, so I've picked bits up from everyone and everything.
I'm interested in all forms of performance, yet I think it's difficult to be as equally talented in all of them as they call for such different skills. At the moment, I still feel I'm learning and want as much experience and variety as possible.
It can be very intense being an actor; it can be quite a small world. Then you speak to your friend who is a scientist and they have a completely different perspective.
But for everyone, I think, there is always a pressure to conform, and I guess as you get older you realize it's less interesting to do that. It starts with you, though, saying, 'I know what I like doing and that's what I'm going to do.'
It's nice to have some continuity you can come back to. I feel that in coming home, coming back to London.
I'm very excited that I can get on a skateboard and skateboard down the street now. That was something I never thought I'd be able to do. I conquered my fears.
I'm not really massively into going out. I'm much more of a hibernator. It's nice to have people come to your house or go to someone's house, I think.
A lot of my time is spent watching films and reading scripts. And it can be all-consuming. And it's obviously something I'm fortunate that is both my work and my hobby. It's what I would naturally be doing anyway.
I always wear the shoes of the character a week before going on set; the idea of just putting on a new pair of shoes on the first day of filming is just horrific.
I'm very independent, creatively, always trying to push myself - and I think that comes from my mother.
Day to day, I always wear eyeliner on my top lid and mascara. I like to do my own makeup, it depends on the event.
If it's something quite low-key then I'll often do my own makeup. But for something like a premiere, it's good to have a makeup artist because they know what they're doing.
You just have to take these opportunities when they come along. They're not that frequent; you'll get a really good script, oh, maybe once a year if you're lucky.
I'm a masochist in some ways. I look for things that I think I can't do, then, for some bizarre reason, I really want to do them. Maybe one day I'll take the easy route.
As a child, I always liked dressing up and getting into character, and actors are lucky in being able to retain that playfulness, though we do seem to find it hard to grow up.
It was only after university that I said to myself that I had to take the risk and have a serious go at acting. It's such a bizarre profession, because you have to be totally tough to deal with all those times when you're being turned down, and then really soft in order to access your character's emotions.
I've never done a superhero movie. It's very nice to you as an actor in several worlds to go and to experiment.
I don't have much time for shopping so I pick things up when I can. My favorite labels are APC, Isabel Marant and Agnes B because the clothes are cut small and have a simplicity to them.
I have a great plain blue shirt from APC, and a denim one from Dolce that I wear constantly. It's hard to find the perfect denim shirt, but this is it.
My most treasured item is the brown leather bag that my mum bought me from a little Italian shop for my 21st. It's supposed to be a vanity bag, but I use it as a handbag.
I use SPF every day, then apply foundation, mascara, eyeliner and blusher. I always take my make-up off at night and moisturize.
My mother worked in advertising and my father was a journalist. But they split up when I was three and I grew up in a single-parent family. My mum brought my brother and I up.
I think that when something happens when you're growing up, like a death or divorce, it does open the world slightly because things aren't as straightforward.