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.

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

Violence and racism are bad. Whenever they occur they are to be condemned and we should not turn a blind eye to them.

If you know you are going to fail, then fail gloriously.

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.

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’m one of those strange beasts who really likes a corset.

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.

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

I feel like I’ve been marinated in Australian theatre.

I had never done anything with blue screen before, or prosthetics, or anything like that. Lord of the Rings was like stepping into a videogame for me. It was another world completely. But, to be honest, I basically did it so that I could have the ears. I thought they would really work with my bare head.Working with Martin Scorsese was an absolute minute-by-minute education without him ever being grandiose about it.

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.

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.

It’s important to travel and move and have a continual set of experiences so you’ve got more to feed back into your work. For me, it’s a natural thing.

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

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?