Nicola Walker

I was on a tour of a Restoration comedy in 1996, and in Moscow we stayed at the Metropole hotel, off Red Square. The food there was opulent, but in the Maly theatre canteen, there were just a few pieces of rye bread, peanuts, and gherkins. I stood in the queue and burst into tears.

Breakfast is a battle. I never feel like eating, but I have now found my way to porridge. I have it with full-fat milk and banana.

When I bought my first little flat, it was two bedrooms, so I got Sarah Phelps to live with me. My years-later-to-be husband was slightly thinking, 'Why are you inviting your friends to live with you?' I was very resistant to leaving my friends.

Two of my dramas, 'Unforgotten' and 'River,' were airing at the same time, and Dad had read about my 'success' in a newspaper - he thought it was brilliant. I was thinking, 'Does this mean I'm going to be put in a box for a bit now?'

I come from a family of scrap metal dealers, so becoming an actor seemed like a ridiculous thing to do, but I'd found the thing that gave me a kick, and I quickly became obsessed with it.

I'm a proper Essex girl because my family was part of that great exodus from the East End.

When I'm not working, as a family we are obsessed with jumping off rocks into the sea and doing dangerous things.

There wasn't really anything I wanted to do other than acting, which is ridiculous because there were no actors in my family, and we didn't know anything about acting.

I get quite fearful about interviews, so I sought advice from other actors.

The confidence and charisma it takes to stand up in front of a group of children absolutely terrifies me.

Most people feel like they're out of step, so just have the conviction to go your own way.

High-end divorce is a closed world. When I tried to research it, I was really surprised about how little there is out there. I think that's because of the nature of the subject matter - privacy is incredibly important to this level of client.