I was incredibly shy and insecure as a child. I was bullied. I was dyslexic. I had an immigrant single parent. I was the opposite of that kind of ideal, cool girl thing.

I felt there needed to be a show for teenagers that didn't make them feel judged. 'Skins' never tried to preach. It allowed young people to make their own decisions about what to do and whether it was right or wrong. Young people really respond to that, and that's what sets 'Skins' apart.

I want to play Keith Richards.

'Southcliffe' is extremely dark. It's an extremely depressing, intense story, but the shoot was like being at Disneyland. It was unbelievably different from what we were filming.

I'm finding a lot of actors my age now who are a bit more like me, and not as posh or brought up in a certain way. There's now people of all sorts of kinds of backgrounds.

I like to work. I feel blessed that I'm working.

I'm lucky to have fallen into this trade, and I'm still fighting to stay in it.

The moors have this weird energy. They trap you.

I really take a lot of influence from London style.

I'm the unhealthiest person in the world. I'm not fit at all.

Clothes are my drug. I love Camden market - I have so many vintage pieces from there it's unbelievable. Clothes are really important to me, they give me that feeling of happiness. I love being a bit free with it all and not giving myself rules.

The fight for equal rights or pay has become this thing where people expect actresses to talk about it. Why they feel that a man is worth more is an important issue to discuss - we are moving in the right direction, but we need to continue to talk about it and continue to label it as an issue.

My hair was always frizzy. I always wanted to be blonde with lovely straight hair. I was very skinny. I was quite tomboyish, just very quiet. I always wanted to fit in; I just couldn't.

Being asked to memorise a script in one day when you have dyslexia is the same as having a broken foot and being asked to dance. You have to make exceptions for it.

I didn't tell anyone in school that I was going to be in 'Skins.' I was terrified of them putting me down.

'Skins' was the university for me. It was the best years of my life, really. We were all just a bunch of friends.

I had a really honest conversation with my husband about equal pay because we met on a movie where he was paid more than me just because of gender.

When I was growing up, we didn't have much money. What was important in my house was to have food on the table, be happy, and have our family.

My first secondary school was in East Finchley, and I was one of only five white people in the year. I was really skinny and flat-chested with frizzy hair. I don't consider myself posh, but my mum brought me up to speak properly, and they picked up on that, as all kids do.

People don't realise how dyslexia affects your confidence and how brutal it can be. People think you're dumb, and you know you're not. it's just how your brain works.

I have expertise of performing, not promoting.

I don't exactly relate to grey characters.

It's difficult to explain in words, but I enjoy doing films more than theatre. It helps me in experiencing moments of truth and I can write an entire thesis on my love for the medium!

I have never done any homework even when I was a child!