Quotes

You only do good work when you're taking risks and pushing yourself; [laughs] and failing really badly.

[on her part in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)]: Oh, I don't even know if I made the final cut. It was one day many years ago. I was still in drama school. A friend was working on it and got me in. I was in a huge audience scene. We were replicated about a thousand times. I wore a chiffon costume. It was quite a look. And I saw Ewan McGregor. He would not remember me. I never told him. I just passed by him. He was playing football, and I was on my way to set. I was just an extra in the village. I got paid 100 quid, I think.

[on Cate Blanchett, her co-star in Blue Jasmine (2013)]: I was very lucky with Cate. She's incredible, and she's a theater actress as well. She thinks and works - I'm flattering myself by saying this - in a similar way as me. She comes from that training and we had time together in New York to get to know each other. Luckily, she was performing "Uncle Vanya" to great acclaim. That was the first time I saw her in the flesh. Then we had time to just talk and unravel the script. That was invaluable for me. It created such grounding.

I love Woody Allen because you are there to work and do your job. There is no time for the pleasantries. There's no time for chit-chat. I like that. He is very right to it. I never thought that I'd be lucky enough to work with him once let alone twice. He's incredibly precise and economical with his words. He doesn't want to hang around. He's sometimes incredibly specific. And sometimes he just lets you get on with it, and he steps away. He works incredibly economically and fast, and he doesn't smooth it over. Does that make sense? He doesn't tell you, "Oh that's amazing."

My family went to Universal Studios and did a Star Trek video spoof. My mum and dad were Klingons. I was Mr. Spock with the ears, and my brother was Captain Kirk. It's one of my most treasured possessions.

Every movie has a bit of magic in it. Even if it's just for a beat.

It's outrageous how women in the film industry are paid less than men all the time. I went to a very good school where we were encouraged to be as independent and strong as we liked and it was quite a shock when I got out into the world to discover how women were patronized and undermined in the workplace. (2010)

I loved working with Nigel Cole on [Made in Dagenham (2010)], but I have to say that now that I think about it, considering what the movie has to say, wouldn't it have been great if 'Made in Dagenham' had been directed by a woman? That would be a real sign of progress, wouldn't it?

Normally I'm the sweet little thing.

I doubt also I could do anything else. My skill set is limited I would be useless at most things! Truly. Acting I get. Mostly. And as long as I am still paid to do it I will keep going... I will keep going until I am kindly and politely asked to leave!

[on Poppy Cross in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)] It's weird because a lot of men couldn't stand her, whereas women really liked her. At least they said they did. Maybe they were just lying.

[on the Oscar for Best Director in 2010] It outrages me that it took so long for a woman to win the award, and that it was so unprecedented that everyone had to make such a fuss over it. It's infuriating the way men dominate everything, from TV in the UK to indie films to studio pictures. It really bugs me.

When you say something with a smile, it makes the world a happier place and everyone appreciates it.

[on the most important lesson that life has taught her] Go live it. Grab it. But be very kind on the way.

[on her character Mary Brown in Paddington (2014)] Mrs Brown's quite an iconic figure in her own right, in that she brings Paddington into the family and adopts him. She's a character who you hope everyone will relate to and love. She's got to be all-embracing and something children recognise and feel safe with.

But actually you never know whether a film is going to get made. And then the money comes, and then it's all incredibly quick.

[in 2011] Of course, I would love to have that one iconic lead role, and every actress wants that, that's the ultimate, really. ... You do wanna find that role that defines you or that you can be really passionate about. I hope that still happens (laugh), I really do.

[on what artists inspire her] This is almost impossible to answer as I am inspired by so many and all! You are influenced by everything if you are creative. Everything and everyone becomes a source of inspiration from artists like Van Gogh, Monet, Mondrian, Tracy Emin [sic], Pinter, Charles Dickens, Samuel Beckett, William Blake, Arthur Miller, Edward Lear (etc to friends or people you meet) From Elgar to Coltrane to Bjork! [sic] Music is a huge source of inspiration too.

I'm nowhere near interesting enough for the press to make up stories about. Which is pretty wonderful in this position. I'm not a fan of interviews. I find I never get across what want to get across and things be slightly twisted [sic] or said in a way that you think you didn't say them. So golden rule - never read interviews.

Someone once wrote I had dyslexia as a child. Then that gets repeated, rather like a Chinese whisper. It's true I had trouble with words. But acting out stories, realising I could improvise, opened up a whole new world. I would just like to say that I can read.

I love working and I love doing lots of things and a variety of things. It keeps your mind active...and you don't end up worrying about just the one thing. When I chew things over or analyze too much, that is when I can trip myself up. I work on a more instinctive level and it was good to completely throw myself into something else.

And I'm the sort of person who prefers to disappear into roles. I know how naff that sounds but I do, and besides, I'm not interesting. I'm dull!

All good stories have a sense of reality [but] we can never really represent reality or else it'd be incredibly dull on film.

[on characters affecting her real life (May 2011):] I try to be quite disciplined about that, actually. Invariably, your work life has an effect - if you've had a bad day it can just bleed into your home life, you take it home and go over it in your head and torture yourself. But the characters I really try to leave behind, so when I step out of their shoes, I step well and truly back into my own. I have to, really, because otherwise I think I'd simply drive my friends and family mad. And I do that anyway, for so many other reasons, that I have to try to at least spare them this!

[on how whenever she gets nervous, she starts to talk (September 2010):] I just can't help myself. But is it good for me? You say something, things you would rather forget, and then they are out there. It makes me anxious and I don't know why people are interested in me anyway. If I had my way, I would rather exist in a little hole and not speak to anyone.

[on whether she is a bit of a film nerd:] Yes, I'm kind of obsessed with film. I have my brother [Finbar Hawkins] to thank for my film education; he's obsessed. He sort of introduced me to Mike Leigh very early on, seeing Secrets & Lies (1996) -- I'd never seen anything like it. I remember seeing that probably before I should be watching those kinds of films.

I like eccentricity in people. I think it's something to be celebrated. My favourite kind of people are that way.

I was brought up with a fantastically bright, strong-minded, independent mother [Jacqui Hawkins], and quite shocked by how I was treated as a young woman. Even on the bus. And the subtler it is, the more undermining and dangerous it can be.

I don't find [publicity] easy and when you have someone who's difficult, it just clams me up. I'll know that they want an easy interview to pigeonhole me, or for me to come out with these amazing sound bites. But I can't do that, I'm not that kind of person. And I don't want to be, really.

[on how her Irish accent is] Pretty good. I'm half Irish.

[on the things she's been offered to play (November 2014)] Sometimes you can pick and sometimes you can't. Sometimes there's a plethora of things, but sometimes it just depends what's about.

[on what she thinks is the key to a happy marriage (October 2011):] Well if I was married, I'd be able to offer more insight. I'll be stabbing in the dark with this answer (laugh) but when I see friends who have very loving and successful marriages and relationships and when I see my own character, I think friendship is the key to a hearty, supportive marriage and relationship. Yeah, friendship and mutual respect.

[on the acting profession:] It can be a difficult profession when you're passionate about it, and especially brutal when you're starting out. You're beholden to other people giving you jobs, and it's easy to feel like a puppet. So I think it's important not to take it personally. And to remember - and it took me a long time - that you're a worthy and creative being who has something unique to bring to a script, and in bringing it to life.

[on stage play Constellations (2012-2013):] I also try to do a few energy exercises to focus. I like to meditate and do a bit of yoga and stretching. The show was quite physical so this helped to warm me up. It would also calm me and my overanxious brain. I light a candle, brush my teeth, say a prayer and on we go!

Initially when I came out of college I put *everything* on my CV, like water skiing, scuba diving, and horse riding and Grade 8 Piano and things like that. So it's high exaggeration. But I think you just do, and you don't know what is expected of you or what you're supposed to do, I mean nobody tells you those things. You're sort of out there in the world and, we're certainly not trained in that at RADA [laugh], just how to cope...

Ambition in women can often be misrepresented as something ugly. But I do have it.

I don't know how women can exist and... not claim to be a feminist? I don't understand how that works. You can't be a woman and not be a feminist, I don't think.

[on her parents:] I was always very aware of how lucky I was, because I had them and their incredible, strong work ethic and mentality, which still prevails today [2010]. They work phenomenally hard. Too hard. It really instilled something in me, gratitude, really, and the fact that you have to work hard in this life if you want to get anywhere, and nothing is owed to you.

Happy, healthy, know you have a good life. I was always brought up with that.

Although uncool is the coolest, isn't it really? Bonnie Tyler, she's not uncool. Cool's a tricky concept.

[on drinking (alcohol):] I'm a huge lightweight. I can have a thimble of something, and I'm anyone's for the taking!

I've always loved water and was obsessed with swimming as a child. Guillermo del Toro and I were doing an interview this morning and he had similar dreams - swimming underwater, being able to breathe. I used to swim three times a week. But as a child, I was obsessed with water. I was a water baby, I still am.

[on what the chances are that she would fall in love with a real fish man:] I'd say, 10 in 10. There has to be chemistry there. Who are his parents? Whether he reads a lot. And whether he can make me laugh like Richard (laughs).

[on Richard Ayoade (2010):] Knowing Richard as a film geek and film buff - I mean, I think I know and love a lot of films, but then it's nothing compared to Richard. His library of films is ridiculous. Brilliant. You could be there for years. He's influenced by so many films and Taxi Driver (1976), I know, is one of the big ones.

Finding the purity of Elisa, and getting her soul right - her energy, her essence - was such a delicate, fine thing. That purity of her soul was important. She has a real gentleness of heart, and yet there's a real strength within her. I feel that so strongly because I think it's something we are often really, really missing in this world. I find that very scary, that we have become more and more cynical. True innocence, and true purity of being, has been lost.

All I'm interested in is working with great people and on projects that inspire me. If that stops then I'm probably in the wrong business and will do something else. (July 2017)

[on director Mike Leigh's method:] ...there's you, and then there's your character, and there's a danger that if you allow yourself to believe that they're you, it can get into some shaky territory.

[asked "If you were not an actor, what would you be?" (January 2012):] Not sure how good an artist I would have been, but I still like to paint. Even if it's just for me, I find it relaxing and messy! I'm bit of a hoarder so probably could open a little shop full of treasure and shiny, girly stuff. It would be selling the stuff on I'd find difficult. There'd be a few fights with customers.

I mean I'm still dealing with equal pay issues. And, that just makes me feel sick to the stomach, but... It's about, also, having true representation within industries, of all minorities. Whether that's female, although easily dismissible, whether that's the LGBT community, and all minorities, really, but just having... Yeah, I wish I was an official spokeswoman, but and instead of just rambling and put it into a very neat sound bite for you.

I like to do very different roles. I'm not recognised in the street, and I wouldn't like to be. I like to take on a different face, learn from that character and move on to another one.