I did literature at university, so I had a real relationship with poetry, but they don't make many films about the world of a poet.

I sort of lived half my life in California, half in England, so I am, I suppose, a little bit American.

I think I'm probably quite geeky in a lot of ways. I'm pretty into books, kind of obsessive about that.

I wish that I wasn't such an odd mixture. I wish I was serious, but I do love high heels and romantic comedies: being in them and watching them.

Working with the likes of Joseph Fiennes was just an incredible experience.

All through my life, I didn't really consider my eyes at all, and then I became an actress. It's great, I guess. They're just in my face, and one is green and one is blue. It's different, and I'm definitely a proponent of being different in any way you can in life, so I guess if you're born a bit different that's a good thing.

Everyone's parents were famous actors at my school, pretty much! I think I went to school with Paris Hilton when I was three. That's what L.A. is, though - it's an industry town. You go to school with kids and you think, 'Well that's normal, they make movies.'

I can't say that I know the lexicon as intimately as a lot of people, so I may be unworthy of being called a Trekkie. That would be doing a disservice to the people who really are Trekkies.

I love to hang out with boys - I've got brothers - but I'm a girl's girl, in all the ways you can be girlie. Nails and chats and gossip magazines and reality TV and pop culture.

I really don't mind what people assume about me. I really think that my brain is my private thing. I don't need the approval of people. I don't need people to think I'm intelligent. And I'm not that intelligent.

In film, the camera can get an array of shots so the audience can see the emotion the character is giving off. Using close-ups on the character's face really helps get the message across. On stage, you can't do that. But the stage has that live feeling that you can't get anywhere else because the audience is right there.

My dad says that when I was two or three I used to go out dressed as a different character every day. I remember thinking it was perfectly normal to wear different coloured shoes and carry a pink umbrella. But now I've got a goddaughter of that age; I realise it's not normal at all.

My dad's always been a famous actor, so I've grown up with that, and with the lifestyle. In a way, I think I thrive on the insecurity that comes with it. Not in my private life - I like to believe that my friendships and my relationships are strong.

My dad, in particular, was adamant that I should finish my education. He encouraged me to go to Oxford, for instance, and I rather doubt I'd have gone if he hadn't. I would have gone straight back to L.A. and tried to start my career.

The Chinese say that having two homes is the way to madness. I'm not mad, but I definitely wish Hollywood would move to Trafalgar Square. But the life of an actor is a life of movement, isn't it?