Michelle Dockery

“'Othello' was my first Shakespearean discovery. I was obsessed with drama at school, and I studied the play for my English GCSE. Desdemona is the part that everyone wants, but Iago's wife Emilia is the one I've always been drawn to.”

“I don't mind wearing a corset, it informs your posture, changes the way you move, you can't slouch.”

“It's great to have a home and everything else that comes with it.”

“I don't get recognized all the time, but it tends to happen more in America, and people are so lovely when they do.”

“I think the success of 'Downton' is partly because there are effectively 18 leading characters, all given equal importance, so it's enormously involving on many levels. But also, it's a new story. It's not like Dickens or Austen, where everyone knows the denouement.”

“It is impossible to watch a 'Friends' episode too many times. Phoebe is my favourite character. I used to play her songs on the guitar when I was a teenager. 'Smelly Cat' is very easy. It's only about three chords.”

“Shakespeare and his work will always be relevant. He wrote those pieces hundreds of years ago and we haven't really changed as humans, have we? We have to deal with love, honour and adultery now - people were the same then, too - that's what's so wonderful and powerful.”

“It's a bit of a history lesson, being an actor. I was in 'Burnt By The Sun' at the National, which was set in Stalinist Russia, so I discovered all about that. You learn so much as you go along.”

“I loved the 'Die Hard' films growing up and the 'Taken' movies. They're so entertaining, and I enjoy being on the edge of my seat.”

“The way I see it, the third series of 'Downton Abbey' is all about change and how each character adapts to those changes.”

“My mum taught me always to see the funny side of things.”

“You can find a connection with any Shakespeare role you play.”

“Playing Isabella in 'Measure for Measure' pushed me to my limits. Janet Suzman was directing, and she was very hard on me. I went through phases of not liking her at the time, but I loved her for it in the end.”

“I'm taller than most actresses, so most corsets tend to be too short in the body.”

“I just want a really varied career, and just to keep going, really.”

“I do believe in one true love.”

“The journey matters as much as the destination. By engaging in the moment on set, I've stopped rushing and now find pleasure in the collaborative process - the characters, the costumes - rather than worrying about the finished product.”

“Laugh at yourself - a lot. My mum taught me not to take myself too seriously.”

“I come from a very working-class background, so my family would have been downstairs in the past, as opposed to upstairs. People are often quite surprised to hear that, that I'm not actually posh.”

“When I was a child, I went to stage school three times a week in the evenings - singing, ballet, tap, modern and acting, and I loved it.”