“I’d like to rescue people in trouble, like Superman.”
“I’m normally a burger and chips girl – such a cheap date.”
“Appearing in ‘Legally Blonde’ has helped me find my inner girl, although at the beginning the director was constantly telling me off for sitting like a boy, with my legs apart, while wearing a cocktail dress and heels!”
“I pull my eyelashes when I’m tired or thinking – it’s a nervous thing.”
“When I saw ‘Legally Blonde’ on Broadway, I rang my agent and said ‘I want to be seen for this,’ but the rest weren’t big choices, really. ‘Hedda Gabler’ was a phone call offering it to me, and as I’ve said before quite embarrassingly, I didn’t know the play, so I didn’t sit there thinking ‘I would now like to tackle Ibsen.’”
“I’m such a weirdo. I’m animal-mad, so my ideal date would probably be something involving going to see animals.”
“I have angel wings and a halo on my wrist, which I got done on my 30th birthday in memory of my brother.”
“Kathy Burke has been a real inspiration. I think she’s brilliant. I like the fact she doesn’t care what she looks like on TV and just gets really into character. Obviously, she can do drama as well, but it’s her comedy I love.”
“I’m always wearing Spanx, eating ice cream and feeling a bit lonely.”
“People can never work out where they know me from. They just come up and chat with me like mates.”
“I’m just some commoner trying to work in acting.”
“I certainly never get above my station – my family would soon slap me back down to earth.”
“When you’re hiding behind a character all the time, as soon as you have to be yourself, you feel kind of terrified.”
“Maybe I’m going from that tomboy-ish state to feeling a bit more womanly. I’ve enjoyed wearing some fancy frocks. It’s nice once in a while.”
“I prefer theatre to television – you get to feel the love.”
“I’m really grateful to my parents for having the confidence in me to let me go. I was terrified I might have to slink back to the village with my tail between my legs, and treated every job as though it were my last – I still do – but fortunately, I got work and things seemed to slot into place.”
“Not having gone to drama school, I always feel like a bit of a fraud, but so far it looks as though I’ve not been found out.”
“I’ve been so lucky with the people I’ve worked with, but I’m such a fan girl. When I moved to London at 16, I saw a man from a Dulux advert on the bus, and I asked for his autograph. I was so excited; you can imagine what I’m like now – I really need to control myself.”
“I’m grateful to be working. The most exciting thing for me is that I never get bored – I’ve done comedy, drama, musical theatre and now Shakespeare.”
“When a woman gets to 30, you ask her about having kids. I don’t mind – all my friends are settled with kids, so I can understand people asking, and I even get it from relatives, but I’d be a fool to miss these work opportunities. And there’s no time limit. One day I’ll find my prince, but at the minute, I’m enjoying kissing a few frogs.”
“I swore on screen when I got the Olivier for ‘Legally Blonde,’ I was so surprised. Awards where the public vote mean a lot. I’m a big Twitter fan and like talking to people who support me.”
“I think the first album I bought was The Jackson Five, but the first CD I was given was ‘Cotton-Eyed Joe,’ the single! Bless my mum – don’t know what she was thinkin’!”
“Every girl wants to play Bridget Jones.”
“I don’t mind being unlikely. I’d rather that than be predictable.”
“I don’t usually get to play sophisticated women. I usually do the old scrubs, chavs or slappers.”
“On my first TV job I didn’t have a clue. They’d tell me to hit my mark and I had no idea what they meant. You just pick it up. And ultimately, all it’s really about is pretending to be someone else.”
“You’re used to having a camera in your face when you’re playing a character – it’s like having a mask on. But when you have to be you, you’re so worried you’ll make an idiot of yourself. Acting is a kind of escapism.”
“As a kid, I was a dancer in Dick Whittington, Snow White and Cinderella. When I was 14, I played Baby Bear. I had a big head on, and you couldn’t see my face. My mum was very disappointed.”
“A lot of young girls who came to see me in ‘Legally Blonde’ have come to see ‘Hedda,’ and they hadn’t heard of the play either, just like I was before I did it! If I can bring a younger generation to see an Ibsen play; that’s just brilliant.”
“I always say to my Twitter followers to come to the stage door and meet me. What I love about being in the theatre, rather than filming, is that you meet your audience.”
“I lack confidence, but I’ve been so lucky the way jobs have come to me, and I’m so grateful for them. I know how many brilliant actors there are out there who aren’t getting the chances. While the work is there, I will grab it with both hands. It could all end tomorrow. You never know what’s around the corner.”
“I suffer a lot with nerves and stage fright.”
“My brother is the lead singer of The Torn, and my parents are in a country duo.”
“I really fancy Eddie Redmayne. I wouldn’t mind a few steamy scenes with him.”
“I live in Selfridges because it has everything under one roof. Liberty’s is great for the same reason – I’m so lazy, I hate walking from shop to shop. Powder in Crouch End always has great designer labels in, so when I walk past I have to put my blinkers on because every time I nip in I come out with too much stuff; it’s dangerous.”
“When I was 16, I played Tallulah in ‘Bugsy Malone’ at the Queen’s Theatre. Me and five others shared a flat together in Blackheath. It was brilliant being 16 and living in London with my mates.”
“I do love Louboutin shoes, but I need to stop buying them because I don’t go to many ‘dos,’ so they just line up. I’m normally in my trainers.”
“I’ve got mates who have got married through meeting on Internet dating sites, so it really can work out – even if sometimes it does go disastrously wrong.”
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