Hayley Atwell

“I like characters who have faults. I'm drawn to darker people.”

“Because I trained in theater, I always leave a film shoot feeling like I haven't done anything, like I just sat in front of the camera and whispered, essentially.”

“My first job was a Greek tragedy, and ever since, one job just seemed to roll onto the next. I've been terribly lucky.”

“Documenting trips makes them that much richer. I stick in train tickets and business cards from restaurants. It makes the whole experience poetic, describing the sights, smells and sounds around me. It means I can relive the holiday years later.”

“Mum wasn't at all religious, but she thought that going to the theatre was as important a ceremonial, communal experience that a person could have.”

“I'm deeply ambitious and I always have been.”

“I read a lot of heavy literature when I'm on set, so on holiday I want to indulge in something light-hearted.”

“The things that prey on my mind in London seem to disappear as soon as I find myself in a different environment. Survival mode kicks in.”

“I can't imagine it if beauty was the only currency I used as an actress. It just doesn't interest me.”

“I have family dotted everywhere - Dad's in California; I've got aunts in Scotland and Virginia; family in Kansas City; family in Manchester and London.”

“I think Brits probably feel that Americans are more like us than vice-versa, if that makes sense. Because we get everything American over here in Britain, but yet there are things which are staunchly English that you guys don't have.”

“From a very young age, stories fuelled my imagination in the most wonderful way.”

“I am often lost in my own world, with a frown on my face.”

“I don't think I'm curvaceous. It's simply that most other actresses are really, stupidly tiny.”

“Although I grew up in London, I spent summers in Missouri, where my dad lived. It's quite a liberal town, Kansas City. You'd be surprised.”

“I'm not really into makeup, not really into fuffing with hair and stuff.”

“Skiing in Whistler was great fun. It's an extreme environment that's very different to my own and I had never skied before, so I had to learn to take on the elements quite bravely. It was nice to try something new.”

“When actors get a bad name for diva behavior - I've never seen it. Because my experience with people who are really famous actors is that they work really hard.”

“I think it's always easier to play parts that you have something concrete that you can relate to.”

“The main reason I did 'Captain America' was because I wanted to get out of my own head and stop taking my work so seriously.”