Quotes

I'm just pretending that this isn't real. You've got to continue living your life, otherwise it's so expensive! You've got to take taxis everywhere!

I sometimes think that if someone spoke to me the way I speak to myself, I would kick them. I've always been really ambitious, whatever I do. At school, I always wanted to be the best in the class - no, it wasn't enough to be the best in the class, I'd want to be the best in the country.

James Franco is Mr. Method, very intense. He scoured the globe for every single copy of the original story whereas I sat with a pint of Guinness and my script.

[on Tristan + Isolde (2006)] The funniest scene was where we drag James into the hut. We referred to that scene as the Franco Sandwich, me and Bronagh. When she drops down naked and said the line, "Ah, I haven't been naked with a man in 15 years!", we always used to find that so funny. You know when something kinda gets you and you just can't stop? I'd see him shaking and I'd start laughing... it took about 69 takes to do.

I've spent a lot of time in L.A. and I love it. A lot of Brits can't stand the place, but I like the west coast attitude and the way people celebrate success.

It's so difficult because, y'know, you're only as good as your last job in this business and sometimes it can take a while to shake a dull one off.

[on her first nude scene in Art School Confidential (2006)] Terrified. I was... I mean I had a no nudity clause for Tristan + Isolde (2006) because I didn't think it was appropriate I didn't think you needed to see anymore than you see to believe that we were in love or making love and quite often you see so much gratuitous nudity in films, especially from women, and my body is a very kind of precious thing to me. So when I was first sent the script and I opened it and flicked through it, and it says "She enters and she disrobes," I thought no way and threw it across the other side of the room. I didn't really know who Terry Zwigoff was at this point and then it was actually James Franco who told me Terry Zwigoff is really good and you should think about that and I said "No, no, no, no I couldn't possibly." Apparently, Terry scoured the country and I think other parts of the world... he is very, very picky about his casting and the producer had apparently got him by the throat and said "Look just tell us what you want." There was about two weeks left before shooting and he said 'I don't know maybe like a young Kate Winslet' and I had met the producer Rus Smith when I was 21 in L.A. and he said "Okay I know where she is, that is fine" and they tracked me down. It was really when my agent Tony Howard ICM said "Listen, you really should take it... you don't not take a meeting with Terry Zwigoff." So I said "fine" and they flew me out and we met at the Standard and just hit it off straight away and when I found out the rest of the cast that was attached like John Malkovich, Anjelica Huston, Jim Broadbent, Steve Buscemi...

I've always been really ambitious, whatever I do. At school, I always wanted to be the best in the class - no, it wasn't enough to be the best in the class, I'd want to be the best in the country.

The culture of celebrity has become insane. It's all based on fantasy, and I find it creepy and disturbing.

What I do for a living means that people look at me. As an actress, you are scrutinized. You are not just dealing with your looks privately, you are on display. I have never been 100 percent comfortable in my own skin. I go through different phases. But I don't feel beautiful all the time, no.

I'm very grateful that I have one of those faces that seems to blend back into the crowd. A lot of people pay lip service to wanting a normal life, but it's actually very important to me.

I don't want to be famous. I like to be able to sit in a cafe and watch the world go by and observe people.

I've chosen not to talk about my really private life to the press - I've never invited a huge amount of attention.

I don't want to be known for anything other than the fact that I play characters in movies.

You can get a bit bored of finding out about yourself. I know nothing about politics, for instance. There's nothing that's stopped me picking up a newspaper in the past, and it's something I really should start to do.

If you were to do a line-up of past suitors, it's definitely a very eclectic group, is all I'll say.

I know so many acting careers that are deliberately kickstarted by a publicist placing a bit of rubbish in a newspaper. And I don't want that. If someone recognizes me, I want it to be because they've seen me in something, not because they have seen me at something.

I am spiritual but not massively religious, and I don't go to church. If someone said 'What religion are you?' I would say 'Christian.' But I don't practice.

I would love to do a really cool romantic comedy, perhaps with Hugh Grant. I think he is brilliant. That's the kind of film I love to go to see. I love 'girls' films'.

I'm half-Welsh, half-Russian. My maternal grandmother is Russian. I've very much a mongrel, which is good in a way because it makes me quite a blank canvas.

I couldn't care less about walking down the red carpet in a pair of heels and a posh frock. I'd rather be in my pajamas at home.

I'm really a strong advocate of aging because the messages that the media and advertising give to women infuriate me: ie that it's a bad thing to get old.

[on Celia Imrie] She's one of my all-time favourites. We did one of the worst films ever made together 15 years ago (Out of Bounds (2003)). We were so ashamed of it. It went straight to DVD and you'll never see it. She did an episode of Our Zoo (2014) so it was lovely to work with her again. I learned from her not to take any of it too seriously and just to have a laugh because otherwise what's the point?