Lily James

For girls growing up, sometimes I think they get the wrong idea for what women should look like.

For exams, I swotted so hard because I couldn't bear the thought of not coming first.

To be honest, when I was growing up - I think it's because of Kate Winslet and 'Titanic' - I always wanted to do period.

I loved fairy tales growing up.

I don't have an exact moment when I decided I wanted to be an actress - it kind of was just really a part of my growing up.

Growing up, I was always prancing around and singing... and I just never really stopped.

It's so hard coming out of drama school to claim your right to be taken seriously and even get auditions.

It took me a while to warm to the '20s costumes on 'Downton.' I love it when women accentuate their curves, and that era was all about hiding them. The shapes they wore then were in tune with female empowerment. Cutting off their hair and hiding their busts was a way of saying, 'We're equal to men!'

I loved learning to fight and kill zombies.

I'm learning a lot about how to be one of the 'good' actors. You'd hope that it's natural to be a good person, and kind, but I'm learning how to deal with long, sometimes boring days.

My first paid role was my first job out of drama school, which was 'Just William.' It was a BBC TV show. I played Ethel.

I treated myself to a £700 Chloe bag after one of my first acting jobs. Then my friends pointed out that, for the same money, I could buy a flight to India. So I took it back."