VANESSA KIRBY

My characters are always unlucky in love. It's annoying, but perhaps there is something in me that is suited to characters that have a darkness. Maybe it's why I play such damaged people when I'm not particularly damaged myself, I would say.

My parents would always take me to the theatre, and I was bored a lot of the time. Loads of Shakespeare, and I didn't know what the hell was going on. And then, when I was 13, we went to see 'The Cherry Orchard,' and it changed everything for me.

I think my natural home was always the stage.

As a person, I'm incredibly overfamiliar. I have to be careful what I say!

My hair has been so wrecked over the years by various things.

You should choose who you love.

I always go for the underdog or the rogue or the rebel.

I hate the idea of massive fame. I think the scariest thing for an actor is when your name becomes bigger than your craft or what you can do.

Just simple things - I like black and white, monochrome; I like suits.

I just love people. I love them a lot.

I've played a lot of untalented people.

So many times, you pick up a script, and you think, 'OK, so she's the sexy one,' or, 'She's the ex-girlfriend.'

I don't have a lot of instinctive fashion style myself.

I love the idea of being an Aries.

Wherever you are in the world, whoever you are with, sometimes you feel desperately lonely.

I became completely obsessed with the Royal family, or at least the psychology behind them.

I thought, 'If I go to uni, I can read and watch people and take many different subjects - take philosophy modules - and have time to travel in the summers,' which I did. I thought, 'I hope this will make me a better actor,' and it did.

When I was auditioning for drama school and looking for a monologue, it was all, 'I'm whinging about my period or my baby that has died or my boyfriend...' Why can't you have a normal girl, talking about ideas?

We know all about actors and singers because they do interviews, but with the royals, everything's so tightly controlled. They live this strange reality behind closed doors.

Some of my favourite characters have been people like Masha in 'Three Sisters' and Elena in 'Uncle Vanya.'

You are what you think. I really believe that. And I don't think you ever stop doubting yourself.

As I'm getting older, I feel like maybe I need to grow up a bit.

I've got a really tight group of friends from university and school who help me forget what I do and keep me grounded.

The thing I really know is that I'm not a model. I'm an actress.

I love the Sixties and all those iconic women, Bridget Bardot and things like that, so I tend to lean towards those sorts of things.