I really value my anonymity and privacy.
Filming a story set in a war zone in the '60s was such a treat, as it gave me so much scope to dive into.
We all have dark shadows in our self that come out every now and then.
I love London, but I miss air; I miss space. My dream is to find a mountain where I can live.
I've been incredibly fortunate to have so many people believe in me.
I did it all, singing, the harp, piano. But I was so shy, I'd wake up at six to practice piano because I didn't want anyone to hear me play. But then I'd do a big show in school where everyone would see me, and that was actually alright.
I don't like to get too complacent. I like to give myself five panic attacks per project.
Sometimes you meet characters at certain points in your life and have a connection with them.
Always good to shake it up and do something different.
At the end of the day, whether it's on film or on stage or for a crowd of however many at Kenwood House, my job is to make sure people have a good time and come away with a feeling and a story.
'War and Peace' is about relationships: family relationships, loving relationships, relationships at war... it's a really young story as well.
I get asked a lot about being a woman within the industry and how difficult it is, and yeah, it is - but it's difficult for everybody... I'm not a 'burn-your-bra' feminist.
I never choose jobs because of what I think I should do. I want to feel something. And with 'Beast,' it was very much like that.
I think I'd make a good James Bond... I'm joking.
The people who are inspiring and strong for me are the ones who acknowledge vulnerabilities.
It's easy to sort of put a sheen across humanity if you're making a film for people who want to escape their own problems. But sometimes a movie can, in the most cathartic ways, expose those problems.
Christmas in the Buckley household is hilarious - at the family dinner, we all have to do a song, no matter if you can sing in tune.
I had to be an adult very quickly and didn't have any friends.
I like to be out of my depth - that's when I learn the most.
Ideally, when you play a character, she goes away with half of you, and you go away with half of her. And you learn something.
I get huge solace from chaos, especially if someone else is doing it, too, like, 'Thank God it's not just me!'
When I was younger, about 15, I suffered badly from depression.
Inherently in us as Irish people, wherever you are in the world, when you hear an Irish accent, it's like a moth to a flame. There's a real personable pride and camaraderie about being Irish.
I want film stories to provoke a question in people about what's going on emotionally around them and empower them in some way or ask them about themselves.
We've all, you know, done things that we think at the time were bad, but actually, in hindsight, you look back and go, 'I'm really grateful that happened because I'm a stronger person.'
The archetype of male hero is so boring. And the pretty, boobed woman is so... boring.
There have been moments in my life when I've become numb to certain aspects of myself that I found frightening. Or I've conformed to certain morals of society and then maybe rebelled or found a way out.
Whatever has happened in your past, it's - you can never deny it. I mean, you can never wash what's happened before in your life out of you.
I like to play kind of the girls-that-eat-worms kind of character.
I love the flaws and foibles of people - I'm much more interested in that than perfections.
I did 'I'd Do Anything,' and then a play and then 'A Little Light Music.' I played jazz in a night club where nobody listened to me for two years. I sold cereal in a market for a while. I worked in a clothes shop in Brixton. But that's the life of an actor. You never really know when your next job is coming.
Because I've got younger sisters, I want to impart on them the possibility of being a strong woman in whatever role I choose.
I can't help who I fall in love with.
I feel really lucky to have had 'War and Peace' as my first big telly job. I was playing this incredible character, and we were shooting in Catherine the Great's palace near St. Petersburg in the winter, when the river was frozen. It was a dream. I still can't believe it. I wanted to soak up every last minute.
We limit ourselves. We're told to act and behave in certain way from birth.
I'm quite glad about having a few craggy edges to myself.
The things people are ashamed of come through in whatever their outerwear is. I suppose I am always looking for that, even if it's somebody who, on the outside, seems to be perfect.
Sure, nobody ever recognises me. I'm always scurrying around London under a hat and looking like a homeless person.
You can play women who have a face on or who zip something up, but you have to dig deeper to actually find the humanity and real aspects.
Tom Hardy is such a good egg. He's a total teddy bear. He loves his dogs and his kids. He's a true artist. But he's a lovely, naughty, funny man.
I just know that making 'Beast' was an amazing experience. It was my first feature, it was the director's first feature, and every day, you're just trying to do good work and learn.
It is a little weird seeing photographs from parties where you didn't even know a photographer was there.
It's ridiculous that Claire Foy got paid less than Matt Smith on 'The Crown.' That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
With regards to pressure, you can't be too conscious of it.
I'd had to grow up pretty quickly, and going back to drama school gave me a chance to be with people my own age and do normal things, like going to a pub on a Friday night and just hanging out.
Dad would always play Ray Charles in the car on the way to swimming, then we'd sing musicals. Now my heroes are Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt and Max Richter.
To hold on to what you believe is just and right.
I am such a gypsy.
I started doing musicals, but the acting bug bit when I did a four-week Shakespeare workshop.
I think Wilkie Collins was a man ahead of his time, asking really important questions but also telling a really good and thrilling story.
When you get the opportunity to work with somebody like Jude Law, there is a fear. They've got lots of stuff under their belt.
I moved away when I was 17. It's been a mad journey, but I've met and made some incredible friends.
I like feeling like I could probably fail, because it makes me find a part of myself that I didn't really know: an inner fighter in me.
Some songs just resonate with you.
I am incredibly lucky. I worked hard for my luck as well. I have made choices to do things because I wanted them to do them, not because they were the right thing to do.
I absolutely adore singing, and I hope I'll always be able to sing, but you can grow more and challenge yourself more as an actor.
I just want to keep working with great actors and try to be good at what I do.
When you're surrounded by brilliant actors, and teachers who challenge you to go beyond what you thought you were capable of, that's got to be good for you.
My mum is a singer and harpist, and my dad writes fantastic poetry, so we've grown up around a lot of words and music.
I like feeling out of my depth.
Strength, to me, is about exposing vulnerabilities and foibles and facts and people that are honest.
We all have the ability to be dangerous and do things which are morally wrong.
I remember hearing that when Judi Dench was starting out at the Old Vic, she used to stand by the side of the stage watching the actors around her, and I can see why: That is where you really learn!
We have beastly qualities within us. If we're put into certain circumstances, and the walls around us come in tighter and tighter, we all could maybe do dangerous things.
If anything, there is something quite musical in Shakespeare's heightened use of language and the way he shapes his speech.
Language is so important to the Irish, almost regardless of education.
