“'Downton Abbey' has become this huge thing, and I really enjoy the success of it, but I sometimes find myself on the outside looking in, which is sort of a healthy way to look at it so you don't get too caught up in it.”

“'Expect nothing and hope for the best' is my mantra. A drama teacher called Joseph Blatchley told me that, and it's the best advice I've had. If you keep an open mind and don't expect too much, then you won't be disappointed.”

“For years, I was often afraid to speak up when I didn't fully understand a script. I'd tie myself in knots.”

“I can be so blown away by story lines.”

“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.”

“I do believe in one true love.”

“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 don't have to walk around in hats or find remote places to go for lunch! I don't get recognised that often.”

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

“I get so excited about reading a new script.”

“I had dance training from a very young age, 3 or 4... It taught me how to present myself, about preparation and working in an ensemble, and it's something that carries with me to this day.”

“I just enjoy acting, whatever area - theatre, film, television.”

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

“I love cycling, but if I could find a way of building something above the streets for cyclists, that would be amazing. We need even more space.”

“I love discovering tiny streets.”

“I really enjoy singing, it's entirely different to acting because I'm just being myself.”

“I regret not learning to drive when I was younger.”

“I think so often you can come out of drama school and get thrown in the deep end.”

“I think some period drama can be quite alienating, but 'Downton' isn't. This is going to sound quite, um, pretentious, but someone said that it's like a soap written by a poet.”

“I think the first time I realised 'Downton Abbey' was a hit was when I was sitting in a tea shop in New York and the couple next to me were talking about 'Downton Abbey,' and then they recognised me.”

“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.”

“I want a house with a garden, but slap bang in the centre of London. Next door to a sushi bar.”

“I wasn't an academic. I hated maths and science at school. I couldn't concentrate.”

“I worked out; I moved 16 times from the age of 19, just hopping about from different flats, because I couldn't always afford to stay.”

“If Shakespeare was around today I would ask him out to dinner. The only thing I don't like about him is the way he did his hair.”

“I'm not on Twitter, but I am on Instagram and follow Lena Dunham and Usher.”

“I'm quite into the French way - simple elegance with just a suggestion of sexiness, nothing vulgar.”

“I'm quite surprised at how out of control I can be on stage because, actually, I find I like to be in control in life. It's quite freeing, really.”

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

“I'm the youngest of three sisters, and my parents have always encouraged all of us to do whatever made us happy.”

“In my twenties, I was a bit of a worrier; it bothered me what people thought of me, what job I was doing.”

“In the early '20s, with the war over, there was a period of celebration, and you can see it in the fashion.”

“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.”

“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've had moments of thinking maybe I should go on Twitter. It's something that I've been shy about, and I've thought that maybe I should do it.”

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

“My dad worked all sorts of jobs when I was growing up and finally ended up as a surveyor; my mum delivers meals to old folk around where we live. We didn't have much money when I was growing up, but I had a very happy childhood.”

“My family keeps me sane. I try to talk to my mum every other day. After I get off the phone, I have a renewed sense of clarity, so I guess a problem shared is a problem lost. It's important to me to keep them close.”

“My godchildren went to see Taylor Swift in concert and got to meet her. They literally ran toward her and hugged her, and it was amazing. I got big bonus points for it. I'll remind them when they're teenagers.”

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

“'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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Shakespeare is renewed each time you see it or read it. I've seen 'Midsummer Night's Dream' so many times, and each time it's a little different, or a different line leaps out at me. It's like re-reading a good book over and over, always noticing something you hadn't seen the time before - and that's rare.”

“Shakespeare's work is like a good song: you never really forget the main lines.”

“Silk scarves are my thing. I tie them to my handbag or thread them through belt loops or wear them in my hair. Never round my neck, though.”

“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.”

“The kitchen is the most important place in any house. Visit your family, and that's where you'll end up. Go to a party, that's where everyone congregates.”

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

“The whole acting game can sometimes be a bit false, and you meet a lot of people in it for the fame - so there's nothing I love more than going back to Essex.”

“We take so many of our freedoms for granted nowadays - I can travel where I like, I can do any job I want - but I think chivalry has been lost a little bit.”

“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.”