That's the thing - you do a job like 'Shameless,' and suddenly that's why you can get a job like 'The Virgin Queen', not because of all the classical….

I only went along to youth theatre with a friend when I was young to try to make myself a bit more sociable. But the whole thing was quite sore; it r….

I just would like to keep going. If I kept getting the kind of work that I've been getting for the last 20 years for the next 20, I'd be a bloody Dam….

There are people out there with three jobs and small children. Being an actor is a walk in the park compared to working as a cleaner overnight. I'm l….

I'm a right pain in the hole for my agent. I won't take certain parts if I think they're offensive or banal. For instance, I won't do a film if I thi….

You can't worry too much about profile; otherwise, you become a different kind of actor, and that's not the kind of actor I want to be..

You want to have enough of a profile to be able to do all the work you can, but at the same time you want to have your own space. But there are a lot….

That's the trouble with the suburbs: it's not a city, so you're not anonymous, and it's not a small town, so that people really care about you, but e….

I admire people who overcome obstacles or who have to commit - I've always really admired commitment, whether it be a commitment to living or a commi….

I'm not a great beauty. That's not me..

The life of an actor is very random. It can be exhilarating but terrifying - you do wonder day to day where the next job will come from. Some of my f….

Any kind of conflict draws me to a role..

When I started drama school, theatre was the main draw. I never had any movie star notions. Not that there were family ties to the theatre, either..

People can be a bit flagrant when they're having an affair. Most of the time, there's an element of it where they want to be discovered because they'….

People at a point of conflict are always the most interesting stories to tell..

I was very lucky in that my parents were very broad-minded. Because they had come from another country and hadn't been able to fulfill their dreams, ….

I sometimes think it's like a weird elastic band. The more tragic your work is, the quicker you snap back. There's a catharsis in telling a miserable….

Nothing is more diminishing than trying to control success or hold on to things..

For actors, being successful is generally getting a job. If you can work a lot, you're really successful. If you work a lot on projects that are inte….

I think age is sometimes just a number. But it's a real joy. Young actors don't come with any of the baggage that we load ourselves up with. They're ….

I was quite shy. I used to write stories all the time, and I think that was a worry for my parents..