Quotes

I was quietly rebellious. My parents thought I was very good but secretly I did things like saying I was staying in one place and going somewhere else instead. My older sister was openly rebellious and would tell my parents where to go, but I never did that.

I am really glad I was raised Catholic. I like the fundamental aspects of that religion. I think they give you great grounding in terms of having a moral code. But I do not subscribe to any religion specifically now.

I actually didn't like Jane Austen. I was more into the Brontes. They were so wild and passionate. I thought there was something a bit tame about Austen.

I wasn't tempted to go into academia for a second.

I love watching Hollywood movies - I just don't know if I'd be happy doing a 'Jurassic Park.'

The thing about the classics it that they are such great characters, they have a great deal of depth and different layers to them. I always find that very stimulating to play.

In Australia I was seen as somebody who did only very modern, contemporary stuff. Then as soon as I went overseas I did two period pieces so it was like, 'When are you going to get out of the corsets?' And I was thinking I just got into them!

about time travel "I would like to go into the future,we know the past and we kind of know what it's about generally, but it would just be interesting to imagine what it would be like in the future. People have so many different permutations of what could actually happen."

I love living in London because it's really an acting town. I love seeing other people perform on stage, it's very stimulating for me. It keeps things fresh

I think I'm an actor more than a movie star, I'am not 100 percent comfortable with that level of fame so I've really just concentrated on the work and I realised early on that that's how I want to run my life.

The good thing about television is you can make a show in six or eight episodes and it's totally manageable in terms of maintaining a really good arc for your character and doing some good work. To do more than 13 episodes for any actor, after that, I think you're faking it. The creative energy is limited before you have to recharge the batteries