"I know that there are some people who believe that brutality or withholding creates interesting work, but I'm not one of those people."
"We're so overwhelmed by our chaotic, crazy confusing world right now that there's something powerful about being able to laugh at something."
"You're not the same woman when you're 20 as when you're 30 as when you're 40. You go through changes — every human being is many different people and goes through changes in their lives."
"I don't have the traditional intro into the industry, which is something I'm really grateful for. I think it changed the way that I see things."
"I've always been like a moth to a flame. Fear doesn't stifle me. It actually ignites me. Once I get past the initial feeling of the fear and I let it roll over me, then I go right towards it. And I managed to just walk through it."
"When I finally made the decision to be myself and be authentic, I went pedal to the metal."
"The miracle of us all being alive, dancing on this spinning orb in the middle of the galaxy together — who are we to turn our nose up at it, or turn away from it. This is miraculous."
"I wasn't interested in making it any other way. So the more no’s I encountered, the more dogged I became."
"Continue to beat to the tune of your own drum. Choose the rhythm that you want to beat to. Because it's yours. No one else can duplicate it. No one else can tell you that it's off beat; it's yours. So, don't compare yourself to someone else. Don't try to beat to someone else's tune."
"I've always said good artists create, great artists listen. So the important thing is to not have any guardrails and just close your eyes and absorb the best of everyone."
"I grew up in Woody Creek, right near Hunter Thompson. And he has a quote that says, 'When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.' And that's where I'm like, 'That’s my little road.' The world is really bad and a lot of people are really bad, but then there are a lot of people that are really good and they just have to keep fighting the good fight. If it's weird out there, then get weirder and figure out a way to be louder."
"My first role where I was seen as this beautiful, sexy young woman was done through a female gaze, which was very safe for me and very iconic in this beautiful, very feminine way."
"It's safe in an artistic space to move through a fear. That's what’s so wonderful about being an interpreter of other people's words."
"I think you cannot be an artist and not have that relationship with fear, because sometimes that can be your best friend and sometime you are the worst enemy."
"I find myself dressing up even to just go out to get a pint of milk — I'd be in high fashion to go and do that. It was fun."
"The hardest thing to remind yourself, especially when you're feeling down, is that you are so much more than just your accomplishments."
"I do quietly pat myself on the back when I look over 50 years now and say: 'Okay, you have got a pretty good batting average, buddy. So, you know, don’t be too tough on yourself.'"
"Bristol Old Vic — it's just a beautiful house in Clifton in Bristol. And you turn up and all the teachers are just incredibly warm. I just remember thinking this felt like home. It was like I’d found my family. This is the career I'm going to do. In my head: I was like, this is what I'll do for the rest of my life."
"I ended up going to university to study languages and was going to go down a very different route.I started going to the occasional class for acting, and just met people and made friends and started to be immersed in this up-and-coming world of budding actors in London."
"I'm capable of doing a lot more than I would allow myself to believe."
"When I talk to Americans, I speak a kind of American. And then when I go home, I go full Irish and it's just very confusing. I think everybody thinks I'm having some sort of identity crisis, but you know, it is what it is."
"Run your own race. Everybody is trying to be like someone else. And they never practice mindfulness in exploring, what exactly do you want? What brings you joy? Where is your bliss?"
"I've always been a believer that there are no small parts, there are just small actors, and I'm definitely not one of them."
"I basically spent the majority of my childhood living in a fantasy world. I would create worlds for myself through writing, through building dens, or going outside for days on end and getting my brothers to play fantasy worlds with me."
"[To pursue a career as an actor] you can’t be sort of interested in it, or have a passing interest in it. It has to be everything. It's the air that you breathe. It's the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning and it's the last thing you think about when you go to bed. No shortcuts."
"When I started working professionally, I found it hard to say, 'I am an actress,' for a long time. I didn't know when I could be classified as an actual actress as a job."