Growing up in Britain, Michael Caine has always been such an icon. Chatting with him, I know I came across as the biggest doofus. Literally, I was, like, bowing to him.

I certainly relate to Ygritte in the fact that she is so strong and also ruthless as well and I feel that especially within 'Game of Thrones,' I think that as a show, it is one of the frontrunners for showing dominant female characters and making sure that men answer to women rather than the other way around.

I personally have been drawn to female roles who are incredibly strong; females who are dominant and know their own mind; who are feisty in their own way without being annoying. I like it when she has a dark side, but she also has a playful side.

It's nice to get my teeth into something that isn't a stereotypical female role.

People are losing jobs, people need to be entertained, and I want to make movies that parents and children can look forward to seeing, that can become a kind of family ritual.

My parents were very volatile but very loving. My father would get jealous if my mother looked at somebody. I used to be insanely jealous. It comes out of insecurity. It can come and go, but you get to the point in life where you don't have this raging jealousy and protectiveness about your world.

As long as you understand that you find happiness through family, friends and love, then money is just a nice bonus.

Only a great genius like the Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell can be mother, wife and novelist without solitude. I couldn't write until my youngest child went to school, and then I began - the first morning - and I've never stopped.