Natalie Dormer
I'm always open to trying out new things.
Dormer by name, Dormer by nature: I love to sleep.
If there's 'game' in the title, I'm there! Ready to play!
I think we all remember Emma Peel from 'The Avengers,' the feminist icon that she was in the late '60s.
As an actress, as you get older, you find yourself in a situation where you play mothers or women who are hoping to be mothers.
I couldn't pick just one defining breakthrough role. I like to think that they're all a part of me.
There's a part of my heart that forever has Anne Boleyn written on it, who I played in 'The Tudors.'
Privacy is important to me. But it's not just about sticking two fingers up and saying I don't want anyone to know my business. It's an artistic choice. I think that for any actor to convince their audience that they have completely inhabited a character requires a certain level of anonymity.
The world is changing so quickly, and actors now have this huge platform of social media to interact with their audiences, but I choose not to have a social media footprint. I'm old-school like that.
Isn't it lovely to know that even the great Sherlock Holmes, the quirky and genius Sherlock Holmes, is vulnerable to love as we all are?
I screen tested for 'The Tudors' in N.Y. That was my first experience of N.Y., being flown here to screen test with Jonathan Rhys Meyers. So I have very, very fond memories of New York - New York helped give me my first big break.
I've been told that N.Y. in the spring is pretty special.
I love cycling.
There was a woman in Elizabeth I's court that happened to have the same family name as me.
I'm very lucky to be in projects that have such skilled writing in them.
I would love to go to the Himalayas and cross over into Nepal to do the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
I'm a quasi-only child. With my brother and sister, I've more of a tendency to be semi-maternal. So, yes, I spent a lot of time talking to myself - I had this big dressing-up box and would just dress up as lots of characters and talk back to myself... Verging on schizophrenia, I suppose, if you analyse it carefully.
The train system in India is chaotic and fun - it's the best way to see the landscape. Being in with all the families and also being the odd animal is a colourful experience you'll never forget.
I feel like I've really earnt my stripes - I feel ready to play a lead. I would just love to prove I'm good enough to carry a project.
When I wake up on a Sunday morning with a slight hangover, in the gym with no makeup on, that's who Natalie Dormer really is. The girl next door who gets a spot on her forehead occasionally.
Perfect is very boring, and if you happen to have a different look, that's a celebration of human nature, I think. If we were all symmetrical and perfect, life would be very dull.
Anne Boleyn is an intriguing character. She seems to appeal to modern-day women in a very potent way. Because she was such an independently opinionated and spirited young woman, which at the time was unheard of.
I've played a lot of elegance and refinement, so to do something really down and dirty is a great attraction.
A lot of boys in my poker circle are mathematicians who play on probability. I don't have that kind of brain, so I rely on instinct. But I recently found out that poker and cards in general go way back in my family gene pool.
Sometimes a woman's looks or sensuality are too readily wrapped up in their power.
I'm a serial monogamist and would never dream of being as predatory as some of the women I've played. I can actually be a bit shy.
When girls bully, it's very subtle, and you can't define it. At least with boys, the bullying is usually explicit, and you can deal with it. It's psychological with girls.
My first time to Rome was when I was backpacking with my best friend around Europe for a month at 18 years old, so I remember that excitement of being away from home properly for the first time.
I think the beauty of the writing of 'Game of Thrones' is not that the characters are fearless; it's how they overcome their fear, you know?
It's a writer's or director's role to be cerebral, whereas for an actor it should be a visceral, gut thing. When the action starts, it's best to turn the brain off and let it become an instinctual thing.
I know I'm not a conventional beauty. You can read a lot of painful things on the Internet, which criticise you aesthetically - but as far as I'm concerned, that's not what an actress is.
Famously, Anne Boleyn was not a beauty: she was more about quirkiness and an innate sensuality, and there are a lot of references to her eyes. Which sends out a great message for women, because life is not about the aesthetic all the time.
I was a very physical child... I was a tree-climber; I was a tomboy.
Actors have this amazing skill - we bond quite quickly but equally we move on quite quickly. There's nothing particularly cold or capricious about it - we're troubadours and lead a troubadour's lifestyle.
These are moments in your life to be cherished; they don't come around that often. To be flying around in a 'Game of Thrones' jet, to be greeted by massive enthusiasts.
I'm not clever enough to be in machinations and real politics.
I had a period of unemployment for about nine months after my first big break, and it's the greatest lesson I ever could have learned, never to believe you're home and dry.
I've always been a history lover. I've spent a lot of recreational time walking around historical castles and estates, in Britain and Europe, and so I know what the real thing looks like.
There are a lot of parallels between the historical Henry VIII and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. There's an oscillation and extremity of emotion throughout his repertoire that lends itself beautifully to the nature of Henry VIII, definitely. He will push things to the limit, and yet remain in emotional control.
I always tell people this: to be a savvy politician or a good head of state and to be charitable are not mutually exclusive things.
I try to stay consciously away from the roles of the girl who throws herself at the leading man, because I've done it a lot and I want to move on. I ticked that box.
I love watching the old movies. I love Katharine Hepburn. I just adore her and everything that she stood for. I find it interesting watching the likes of Gene Tierney and those classic movies of the '40s.
As an actress, I think it's important to look back and realize that we aren't always quite as original as we think we are. There's this grand, textured history for us over the last 100 years of incredible writers, directors, and performers.
I did every job under the sun from bartending to ushering to temping.
I was so excited to work with Ridley Scott. Who wouldn't be?
It's fascinating how much of our sense of attractiveness and feminine identity is bound up in our hair.
Cutting one side of your head for a few months is not a big deal compared with what other people have to deal with in the world. Plus, hair grows back.
I'm a massive yoga head. Lots of yoga and lots of running. I do Bikram yoga. I adore it.
Because of my job, I get a lot of opportunity to grab a few days here and there in many cool cities for press commitments, magazine shoots and premieres - Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Paris, Stockholm, New York, Berlin. I always try to get to a gallery or museum if there's time.