Felicity Jones

I think that when something happens when you're growing up, like a death or divorce, it does open the world slightly because things aren't as straightforward. ”

People keep saying how amazing it is having a female lead, and I just sort of feel, 'Well, of course!' ”

My agent called me up and said, 'There is a tremendous female lead in the new 'Star Wars' film, and I think you're really going to like it.' The opportunity to play someone determined, who's trying to find her skills as a leader; to be in a fantasy movie; to be able to do a leading female role in a film of that scale - that's very, very rare. ”

My mother was in the kind of late-'60s, early-'70s origins of female emancipation. And she was very much like, 'You're not going to be defined by how you look. It's going to be about who you are and what you do.' ”

I just always want to play people. I don't want it to be necessarily that you relate to the character as female or male, but that you relate to them as a person. That's the driving force. ”

I'm interested in all forms of performance, yet I think it's difficult to be as equally talented in all of them as they call for such different skills. At the moment, I still feel I'm learning and want as much experience and variety as possible. ”

Without sounding too pretentious, I feel my job is almost like becoming a monk or a nun - it's a calling. ”

The ideal would be to have a career like Meryl Streep's or Kate Winslet's. It's just unbelievable how they manage to make such incredible choices one after the other. If you could have a career anything like that, then that would be a great thing. ”

I make all my decisions by listening to my instinct and then keeping my fingers crossed it will lead to a good place. ”

It's nice to have some continuity you can come back to. I feel that in coming home, coming back to London. ”