Nixon had lists upon lists upon lists. They were tragic lists saying, 'Smile more,' or, 'Be stronger - remember, it is your job to spiritually uplift the nation.' This understanding of his limitations is heartbreaking.

I do have an innate understanding of where a story should or shouldn't go, in a way that I don't think can be taught.

I have no directing ambition whatsoever. And as long as I meet filmmakers like Tom Hooper, Stephen Frears, and others who allow that collaboration, I can't see why I would ever want to direct.

Ambition interests me because it's such a surefire indicator of damage.

My mother had a very open-minded philosophy about having children: that they should be free to develop in their own way.

The first person on the BBC that played me was Huw Stephens. I was sat around my laptop with my girlfriend and my family, and it was super-exciting. It felt weird, and it sounded weirder, but it was great.

I think of myself as Rebecca Wells from Lodi Plantation, in Central Louisiana, a girl who was lucky enough to be born into a family that encouraged creativity and didn't call me lazy or nuts when I dressed up in my mother's peignoirs and played the piano, having painted a small sign decorated in glitter that read 'The Piano Fairy Girl.'

Coaches are people who are close to you, who you call family.