Cressida Bonas

“I think as you get older, you find out more and more about yourself and what you like and what you don't like.”

“Martin Joyce is a beautiful dancer and an amazing choreographer. He choreographed the Mulberry dance film I was in, 'From London with Love.' A truly talented man.”

“I'll go out with my friends or if there's something really amazing I've been invited to, but I won't do that all the time because that's not who I am.”

“If I ever feel like, 'Oh, my life!' or get upset by silly things like a photographer, or if someone has written something nasty that's upset me, I just think, 'Worse things happen at sea.'”

“I'm much more confident performing than I am in social situations.”

“It was on a trip to Africa with my family - I was eight - and an angry baboon jumped through the window of our parked car. As my siblings escaped, my foot got stuck in the seat. I froze and watched it steal the whole contents of our car around me.”

“I don't really understand it: in real life, I'm often so shy - paralysingly so - but when I'm performing, it's totally different. I feel free.”

“I'm a strong, independent woman.”

“Obviously, I do feel I'm scrutinised a bit too much and people are judging me. All I do is keep my head down and work, work, work.”

“I just love being in the arts.”

“I never got to know my grandparents, and I am envious of my friends who have a special relationship with theirs.”

“I've lived in Shepherd's Bush for five years with my friend Georgia in a cosy, cluttered flat.”

“My older sisters and brother are all amazing beings and inspiring people. They are my best friends and have guided and taught me consistently throughout my life.”

“I did a postgrad at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.”

“I'm not really one of those people who's always out. I like being at home.”

“I love that theatre can be political. You can go watch a play; it sends out messages, and you can go away thinking differently to the way you thought about it before.”

“I'm a lion. I'm not tough, but I am strong. I'm definitely not a wallflower.”

“Dancing freely to Fleetwood Mac always makes me happy.”

“I have always loved creating and entertaining. It started with music, singing. I grew up in a household filled with music - not pop but old-school stuff, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong.”