I have an amazing stylist; she's called Rebecca Corbin Murray... I go around to her living room, and it's sort of exploding with dresses, and we go through them all, and she's so good at picking things she knows I'll like, and we work together. She's taught me absolutely everything; she's brilliant.
It took me a while to warm to the '20s costumes on 'Downton.' I love it when women accentuate their curves, and that era was all about hiding them. The shapes they wore then were in tune with female empowerment. Cutting off their hair and hiding their busts was a way of saying, 'We're equal to men!'
My dad lived on Sunset Boulevard for a couple of years as a waiter, and he said he'd do a different character every time somebody sat down, just to get some practice.
People talk a lot about, 'You're a Disney princess! You're Cinderella!' and this and that. But for me, it's all about the fact that I worked with Cate Blanchett and was directed by Kenneth Branagh. That's the 'Cinderella' story for me.
I saw Cate Blanchett in 'Big and Small,' and it was mind-blowing. The fact that she can do theatre and is also a huge movie star is really exciting.
I treated myself to a £700 Chloe bag after one of my first acting jobs. Then my friends pointed out that, for the same money, I could buy a flight to India. So I took it back.
It's weird when you get roles that coincide with your life.
The Twenties outfits are all about freedom and loose, flowing lines, whereas in 'Cinderella,' I had to wear corsets and big huge skirts.
With corsets, it's interesting when you put them on, realizing that's what women actually wore. They're just so constricting.
Corsets are always hard to wear.
I saw this cool interview with Amy Adams from when she did 'Enchanted' and played a princess, and when kids came up to her with no make-up and ripped jeans on, she said, 'I'm off duty. I'm an off-duty princess', and I thought that was quite sweet.
In anything, I always give my all. I'm not a good loser.
The world of the flapper - live free, wild and young - that energy is intoxicating. It's nice to inject that into the more controlled 'Downton' way of living.
As an actor, you get a bit itchy to do something entirely different.
I admire actresses like Jennifer Lawrence, who says what she thinks.
You know that scene in 'Runaway Bride' when Julia Roberts puts on the amazing wedding dress and looks at herself in the mirror and goes, 'Swish, swish'? I loved that moment so much when I was a little girl.
In regards to your love life, you're just entering into a whole of pain if you talk about it. If you've never said anything, there are no sound bites to haunt you when you're crying into a box of Kleenex after it all goes wrong.
My mom passed down to me her old Levi's denim jacket. When I left it on a plane, I was devastated. I've never been able to find anything with quite the same cool, faded look.
Drama school was a lifeline for me, it saved me. I found it very nurturing - I just clung on.
I want to be Ursula in 'The Little Mermaid.'
