“My interest in acting came from reading books, and my most satisfying parts have always been those that have come from novels. … Some people like working from a completely blank page so they can create something. That’s exciting as well but I’m less confident with that than if I’m given a really good starting point. I love working on a character who comes from a novel because not only have you got what’s in that text to work with but you can also look into the writer, and the more you find about that author the more you understand what it is you’re working on.”