I quite enjoy cooking but I'm not consistent. I can't follow the recipe book. If something goes well...
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I quite enjoy cooking but I'm not consistent. I can't follow the recipe book. If something goes well, I'll never make it again, which is completely stupid. It's a one-shot kind of deal.
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As a child I loved ghost stories.
As a child I loved ghost stories.
You either are a good director or you're not.
You either are a good director or you're not.
If pressed, I would say I feel British. It's where I grew up and where I choose to live, the culture...
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If pressed, I would say I feel British. It's where I grew up and where I choose to live, the culture that I love, but I feel perfectly at home in America, I don't feel like a tourist or anything.
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It sounds trite, but I like telling stories.
It sounds trite, but I like telling stories.
I've always had horrible Valentine's Days.
I've always had horrible Valentine's Days.
When I was 22, I thought I couldn't wear heels because of my height.
When I was 22, I thought I couldn't wear heels because of my height.
I don't like talking about myself, if I'm honest.
I don't like talking about myself, if I'm honest.
I don't think that theater is the higher medium, that it's better than film.
I don't think that theater is the higher medium, that it's better than film.
I always look for contradiction in a character.
I always look for contradiction in a character.
I think acting can be very frustrating, and there's no experience that doesn't make you a better act...
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I think acting can be very frustrating, and there's no experience that doesn't make you a better actor.
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I think for a long time it seemed like working in an art form and being a feminist meant portraying ...
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I think for a long time it seemed like working in an art form and being a feminist meant portraying women in a perfect, angelic light. And there's nothing feminist about that.
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My mum's American. She's from Detroit.
My mum's American. She's from Detroit.
To read a character I'm not sympathizing with is generally quite a good, attractive proposition beca...
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To read a character I'm not sympathizing with is generally quite a good, attractive proposition because I've got somewhere to go, I've got work to do, to try to understand why they behave like they behave, to relate entirely and understand them and to be completely emotionally connected. That is much more fun 99 percent of the time.
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I was the kid who grew up watching Bette Davis films.
I was the kid who grew up watching Bette Davis films.
I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be an actor. It has just always been an inevitability ...
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I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be an actor. It has just always been an inevitability on some level.
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I'm not consciously avoiding doing a lot of period drama, but I don't really seek it out either.
I'm not consciously avoiding doing a lot of period drama, but I don't really seek it out either.
Whenever I'm in theatre situations I will go out of my way not to talk about my father, but in the f...
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Whenever I'm in theatre situations I will go out of my way not to talk about my father, but in the film world I can be really proud of my family and say, 'You know what: my dad's a really, really famous theatre director,' because nobody has any idea.
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I'm very nerdy about my music, and I like interrogating people about what they put on playlists.
I'm very nerdy about my music, and I like interrogating people about what they put on playlists.
I used to have the most visceral response to having my photo taken. I felt like instantly bursting i...
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I used to have the most visceral response to having my photo taken. I felt like instantly bursting into tears and running out of the room. I hated all the attention, which is such a stupid thing for an actor to say.
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There are people all over the world who like to write fan letters in the voice of their pet: 'Hello,...
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There are people all over the world who like to write fan letters in the voice of their pet: 'Hello, my name is Fifi and I'm a labrador and I think you're great. Paw paw!'
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No family is sane, is it?
No family is sane, is it?
I've never been desperate to please my father.
I've never been desperate to please my father.
Twin Peaks (1990) is my favorite American TV show.
Twin Peaks (1990) is my favorite American TV show.
Lentil dhal is the only thing I can cook.
Lentil dhal is the only thing I can cook.
If you act scared, your body produces adrenaline.
If you act scared, your body produces adrenaline.
One of the great things about the "Iron Man" franchise is that they employ fascinating actors who do...
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One of the great things about the "Iron Man" franchise is that they employ fascinating actors who don't necessarily do action movies. Before "Iron Man", you didn't associate Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow with those kinds of films. There's an emphasis on repartee and wit.
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There's always going to be a separate version of you that people will create, and you have no contro...
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There's always going to be a separate version of you that people will create, and you have no control over it.
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I was a really pretentious teenager.
I was a really pretentious teenager.
I've played an awful lot of repressed people.
I've played an awful lot of repressed people.
[on meeting Benedict Cumberbatch when she was age 8] Benedict was one of those boys that you met and...
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[on meeting Benedict Cumberbatch when she was age 8] Benedict was one of those boys that you met and you could already see what he was going to be like when he was middle-aged. He is a one-off, and it is the fate of people who are unique for others not to notice their talent straight off the bat. It's easy for people to say, "Wow, you are the next 'Johnny Depp'." Benedict was never going to be the next anybody. He was always going to be just who he is.
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My childhood was very colourful, and I am very good friends with both my parents. We have no secrets...
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My childhood was very colourful, and I am very good friends with both my parents. We have no secrets.
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I would say that maybe directors who act as well are easier with actors. I'm not saying that all dir...
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I would say that maybe directors who act as well are easier with actors. I'm not saying that all directors have this, but sometimes you'll come across a director who sort of looks at an actor a bit like a kind of untrained horse that's been let out of the stable, like they might buck him.
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I read everything. I've always got a book on the go and I'm really nerdy about it, I get through boo...
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I read everything. I've always got a book on the go and I'm really nerdy about it, I get through books and don't remember anything about them afterwards. But I read all sorts, from classic to contemporary.
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One aspect of my mum's personality that has influenced me is her love of Hollywood and the golden er...
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One aspect of my mum's personality that has influenced me is her love of Hollywood and the golden era of black-and-white films.
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