Often, when I am playing difficult roles, I have a problem sleeping because I can't leave the character behind.

When I was growing up, because I was a bit overweight and boyish, I thought I wasn't attractive to the opposite sex, but I have since met lads from my school who said I just seemed unapproachable.

They always said to me that I needed to be more feminine. I think it's so wrong. Being boisterous doesn't mean you are not feminine.

What is male and what is female? I don't always feel female.

'Toast of London' is a must-watch. Matt Berry's off-the-wall humour is slightly surreal and a little bit deviant. That's why I also love 'House of Fools.'

I love 'Splash!' and 'Take Me Out.' Not that I'd ever do 'Splash!' It's the parading on British TV in a swimming costume I couldn't handle.

I'm very independent, probably quite selfish, and like being able to disappear at the drop of a hat without having to explain myself - most men would find that a pain, wouldn't they?

Every job still feels like the first time.

It's interesting when people say, 'You always play strong women,' because as far as I'm concerned, women are strong. I think that's what women are. We have got that vulnerability, but we have got that strength. We are survivors.

I reckoned my accent and class would count against me; I didn't see actresses as being working-class.

I'm inspired by films from the early '50s, especially Jean Simmons in 'The Clouded Yellow' - and by vintage swing, psychobilly gigs, sea shanties, and English folklore.

The 'Bolton News' is the best place for online comments. They say I'm an absolute idiot and a communist anarchist. I was never an anarchist; I was a communist!

I joined the Communist Party when I was 18. When I was 10, there was the miners' strike, and the Cold War was going on; it was quite a potent time to get involved in politics. I got involved through my grandfather, who was a member.

I went to Salford Tech. They did a two-year performing arts course. I went there singing and dancing - I had a terrible time. I turned up in green dungarees and German power boots. I was into prog rock at the time - Gong and Hawkwind - and I was clumping around.

Male? Female? It's not always relevant to some people. They are who they are - they might not fit into a specific box.

I didn't have my first serious boyfriend until I was 23. Then after that, I went out with a guy I'd been best friends with all through drama school.

I don't have massive ambitions to be anywhere other than in this country doing good work.

I've always had pop-star crushes. I had a huge crush on Ian Brown.

At drama school, I was told, 'Lay off the chips, or you'll never play Juliet.' Sometimes, in the stock room of the set of 'Dinnerladies,' I'd put away three or four Mars bars while waiting for a scene. Then, at 24, I lost five stone.

When I graduated, I was my biggest ever: 15 stone, with a boyfriend - my first - of just 11 stone. I was 23 years old. It wasn't just affecting my career: it was a health issue as well.

You don't want to bash viewers over the head with a blunt message or lecture them - they'd soon get bored with that.

I think with 'Silk' there's something there for everyone: it's a legal drama, but it's human as well - you get to dip into the lives of the barristers and clerks.

Nobody's impressed back home. All my friends were going, 'Oh right, so you're doing a play up in Leeds? Another depressing one is it? Do you mind if we don't bother coming?' I love that.

You want to go to your deathbed saying, 'I didn't sell out.' But it's a tough business to keep to what you believe in and get through and do well.