Rose Byrne

Where I am now, you’re very much at everybody else’s mercy. You have no control over your career in a lot of ways. It’s just important to know what your own goals are, because that’s empowering.

TV is very much a producer and writer or creator-driven machine in the States. And I’m the kind of actor that needs to be pushed and have someone on my case a little bit, so I suffer from that.

The British are so funny. It’s like they can’t believe I lived in Hackney. ‘You could live in Bondi Beach. Why would you want to live in ‘Ackney?’ But Hackney’s fantastic. I’m serious. There are so many artists there. I loved the markets, the parks, the pubs, the diversity. It was a cultural melting-pot.

I loved performing; I was always trying to impress my siblings by being a clown. I think that came from being the runt of the litter.

They think I’m depressed because I look serious in photos. It’s usually because I’m just nervous. But I’ve stopped dressing for other people. If I think I look good, that’s the most important thing.

Being an actor is mostly about rejection and being out of work. It was a fast lesson in all of that stuff.

I tend to spiral out of control if I’m not working. I get panicked and don’t know what to do with myself.

I’ve always thought of myself as more of a character actress. I’ve tried to do different things, but I’ve always been under the radar and that’s how I like it. I’ve been really blessed to work this long and I just hope I continue to get better and better and better and better.

I often do very serious roles, but really I am a big clown.

I’m ambitious but I’m not particularly competitive. I’ll try to get roles, as I think it’s healthy to go for things, but… I think there’s too much competition between women already. It’s important to have female solidarity and support each other and other actresses.

You see someone on the street wearing an outfit and then it’s on the cover of a magazine. I love. But, you know, I’m Australian, so I’m not too flashy or glitzy.