I'm a big reader, so when I was in 'Pride and Prejudice,' or, like, in Poirots and Marples, those are all books that I loved, and so it was really exciting for me to inhabit characters from literature that I knew and recognized.
— Talulah Riley
My dad is Scottish, and he read in the newspaper about the plight of the Scottish Freshwater Mussel, which is a real thing - like, a very real, serious conservation issue. And he's a writer, and he was going to do a film about a Glaswegian gangster, and then I stole the idea and turned it into a romantic comedy.
I grew up in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, and reading was a big part of my life - I'd get through several books a week.
Boys are like puppies, but the thing I find terrifying is how do you steer them?
When I was a little girl, I told everyone I was going to marry a very clever scientist and have ten children. I would always draw the children, and they included blond-haired twin boys whom I named Theodore and Frederick: Teddy and Freddy for short.
I have an existential crisis every time I walk into a bookshop, knowing that I'm not going to read all the books before I die.
I used to ride horses when I was younger. Ponies were my life. I miss being fearless.
Initially, I studied philosophy, because it claimed to give you answers to the meaning of existence, but it didn't: It was basically a semantics game.
Men are visual creatures.
The things I wanted to do from a very early age - ie. get married and have children - precluded a lot of guys my own age from wanting to have anything to do with me.
I'm not some sort of tormented soul looking for an identity in the roles I take. I became an actress because I just love dressing up and playing.
As a child, I loved story books and wanted to be in them so desperately and live the stories.
I went to quite an academic school, and all my friends were going to university, but even before my acting jobs, I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to spend another three years being institutionalised, and I feel that getting out of that system benefited me in quite a few ways.
'Westworld' is going to be incredible, and the production line is amazing. That was really nice because Lisa Nolan, who is in charge there, is fabulous and is a great example of a woman doing that role. So that was great, and she's amazing - an incredible writer and fantastic to work with.
The writers who inspire me most are all women: Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Margaret Mitchell and Emily and Charlotte Bronte. As for contemporary novels, one of my favourites is 'Everyone Brave is Forgiven' by Chris Cleave. It's the sort of book to read if you've fallen out of love with reading - it reminds you just how brilliant novels can be.
My parents used to call me 'The Little Frog,' because whenever they asked how I knew something, I'd say 'read it,' which sounds a bit like a frog croak.
I don't drink tea or coffee. I'm like a child: I like fruit juices and sodas and creamy hot chocolate.
I believe in honesty and integrity, having a belief system that you've thought through and then stick to. I believe in being creative and contributing, and I believe in taking a stand against injustice that you encounter in everyday life and not being idle in that respect.
Marriage is a social construct, but I still believe in it.
Yoga is the one L.A. thing I actually like.
I think I was a pretty normal student; I just followed most of my friends.
There's a real power in heels and a good dress.
I got into physics through pop science and quantum science and ended up being such a quantum groupie.
I was a real daydreamer at school, gazing out of the window and losing myself in imaginary worlds.
Acting is an odd lifestyle. You make deep bonds quickly and, though you move on, you go around on a loop and see people again.
Dark matter is interesting. Basically, the universe is heavier than it should be. There's whole swathes of stuff we can't account for.
I've been an actress for years, and I've worked with one female director. Statistically it's less than 7% or 12% - I mean, it's low, not representative. So, hopefully, more women will be given opportunities to direct, or create opportunities to direct themselves.
I fantasised about becoming an author and wrote my first book at 18 - an introspective novel set in the 1920s.
Ideally, I would like to play roles in as many classics as possible: 'Rebecca,' 'Hedda Gabler.' I'm fond of a corset.
I'm terribly, horribly shy.
I didn't intend to be an actress. It was one of many things I was interested in, and it just took off. I was an actress between the ages of 18 and 22, and it was a wonderful, fun thing to do, but it wasn't what I intended long term. I parked acting a long time ago.
I'm terrified I'm about to die, or that all the people I love are about to die, every second of every day.
I have an obsession with mortality. I saw a friend die when I was 18, and I can't get over it.
I would literally do anything for Richard Curtis. Anything.
Along with issues like global warming, I think a problem with the world today is population decline.
I have a checklist of things I'd like to do in movies. One of them is get possessed. Die on a deathbed with a ghostly pallor - that's on my list.
My wide eyes make me look much younger without make-up, and although it's fun to have a line in innocence corrupted, I doubt I'll get to play the vampy vixen or a Hedda Gabler or Lady Macbeth.
'St. Trinian's' is probably taking it to the extreme, but in essence it's saying, 'If you be yourself, you can do whatever you want,' and it's sort of a fun message.
