Quotes

"Actresses can get outrageously precious about the way they look. That's not what life's about. If you starve yourself to the point where your brain cells shrivel, you will never do good work. And if you're overly conscious of your arms flapping in the wind, how can you look the other actor in the eye to respond to them?"

"He thought I was aloof and I thought he was arrogant. It just shows you how wrong you can be. But once he kissed me that was that." - On her first impressions of her husband, playwright Andrew Upton.

"I certainly think that when I flick through all the magazines at the hairdresser's I like to see and am drawn to images that have an intelligence and mind at work behind them."

"I don't have a sense of entitlement or that I deserve this. You'd be surprised at the lack of competition between nominees - I think a lot of it's imposed from the outside. Can I have my champagne now?"

"I love strange choices. I'm always interested in people who depart from what is expected of them and go into new territory."

"There's this sense that of course you want to be famous. When you're a performer, of course you want an audience, but it's very, very different from courting fame."

"I think that's what I love about my life. There's no maniacal master plan. It's just unfolding before me."

"If I had my way, if I was lucky enough, if I could be on the brink my entire life - that great sense of expectation and excitement without the disappointment - that would be the perfect state."

"If you know you are going to fail, then fail gloriously!"

"It was only when I realized how actors have the power to move people that I decided to pursue acting as a career."

"Look, it's one of the great mysteries of the world, I cannot answer that question. I think I'm vaguely blonde. To be perfectly frank, I don't know."

"I live my life parallel with my work, and they are both equally important. I'm always amazed how much people talk about celebrity and fame. I don't understand the attraction. I suppose I find the freedom in anonymity actually enables you to engage in the world, which for me is the cornerstone of an actor's tool."

"You know you've made it when you've been moulded in miniature plastic. But you know what children do with Barbie dolls - it's a bit scary, actually."

"You can't be trying to make a film that pleases all people, you know, so it's not a concern of mine."