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.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I think in some ways I'm quite lucky to be living in London, there's this certain separation from the movie business. In that way, it's been quite easy to separate acting and going back to a normal life.
The whole of my acting career is a bit of a mystery to me.
I confess I've got a yearning to go to Los Angeles, but I can't work out if it is because a lot of British actors seem to go or because there's this perception that the bottom has fallen out of British drama, so therefore, it's the place to head for.
The thing is this: I've got an amazing career in England that couldn't possibly get much better. I do the best theater around, I work at the National Theater, the Old Vic - which I'm sure you've heard of because it's the one Kevin Spacey runs - and I play the most amazing roles and work with the most amazing directors.
I love my home, spend as much time in London as I can, and try wherever possible to avoid travelling for work. Sometimes I think I'm really badly equipped to be an actress.
Once I found acting and found that I could get away with it and make a living out of it, I was thrilled.
If you have a passion and love for something, it's hard to give it up. I had jobs where the people were helpful and let me go to auditions, and I'd make up the hours another day. I was lucky in that respect: I could afford to get to London.
I do enjoy acting, but it is such a game. So for that reason, I don't think I'll ever leave London.
What I love about acting is that you are exposed to so many different things. Horse-riding, sailing, travelling to amazing places.
I'm always envious of the actors who get to come to work every day and really grow deep roots there, but it is really fun playing lots of different characters.