Laura Carmichael

“In a way, it's good not to be recognised as much off screen.”

“No one goes through life thinking that they're the best friend of the lead character.”

“We all have hierarchies at work - even on set, the runner would never walk up to the director and ask for a cup of coffee.”

“It's beneficial to play against your type; to be chameleon-like.”

“The Twenties have this sort of attitude where you never know what's around the corner.”

“I think as an actor you're used to having to travel, so wherever the work, is you're willing to go.”

“When I emerge from filming I feel slightly out of synch with real life, but it's also a relief.”

“I have such a huge girl crush on Beyonce.”

“As actors, you play people who are not yourselves!”

“Sometimes we do things that are really awful.”

“Playing a plainer role means everything is dependent on the credentials of the actor, not the fact that they are as pretty as Julia Roberts. People start to look at their talent rather than their appearance. And playing the ugly part often means less time in the make-up chair, which is a great benefit on set.”

“I've been really lucky because I've managed to become wonderful friends with a handful of very talented British designers. Christopher Kane has become one of my very good friends - also Erdem. Jonathan Saunders is another brilliant talent who's very kind. We all hang out.”

“If I'm tweeting about being somewhere, and I haven't replied to somebody's email from three days ago, that's quite rude.”

“I'm from Southampton.”

“In the U.K., there is a sort of obsession with class.”

“I did all sorts of jobs after drama school - working in a bar, as a teaching assistant. I probably learned as much from them as I did at drama school.”

“I'd love to work in the States; I'd love to work anywhere where you get a good script and a good part to play. But I do love British film as well.”

“I certainly never saw myself as posh.”

“You have to have sympathy for and an empathy with a character in order to play them.”

“There is no way I'd have wanted to live in the Twenties. It was really crap for women.”