As actors, we went where we wanted to, and the camera followed us: it was like having another person in the room. There was no formal structure to the process. It was very liberating.

When I did get home this last time, we had all these plans to go out. And then we hardly stepped outside because the time together seemed too precious.

It`s an incredible privilege for an actor to look into the camera. It`s like looking right into the heart of the film, and you can`t take that lightly.

I always think I am going to do my best.

I wanted to do something artistic with my life but I didn`t think I wanted to be an actor, so I went to university and majored in English literature.

I`ve always been creative, I think.

But the great thing about doing a theatre job is that once the ball starts rolling you just have to go with it, it`s inexorable.

I think so, Silence of the Lambs was a great, suspenseful thriller and I would expect Red Dragon to be similar. And I think it`s very character driven.

On being at the Cannes Film Festival opening of "Breaking the Waves" without the film`s director, Lars von Trier: "It was a bit of a baptism of fire, because I had never done any press before. I had never done a single interview in my life. I had never made a film before, I just knew nothing. And I arrived in this maelstrom of publicity with this extraordinary film, and of course Lars von Trier didn`t come to Cannes so we - just the actors - were left to explain what on earth he meant by this extraordinary film. The first experience of Cannes, the first time I was here, is like seared in my brain like a firebrand. It was very intense. I remember as the light went down, someone leaned over and said, "Emily your life is about to change forever." You know the official music? Whenever I hear that music that they play when the film starts, my stomach starts to churn. But being with this film is more than great, because it`s more about show business. There are ten of us here, and nobody is really carrying the film in that way."

When the time came to make a decision about what do in life, I found myself thinking that acting was the thing I loved to do, so I applied to drama school. And then, I didn`t get in - twice.

My husband. He keeps me grounded. If I were in the world on my own, it would all be much more seductive. But I`m in a relationship that has nothing to do with the film world.

My character Lena is somebody who responds to people in a very simple way. I didn`t have to take myself off to a darkened room to concentrate, I just had to try and be open. It`s an interesting, subtle relationship.

The film Punch - Drunk Love is how you see the world when you`re in love. You don`t see somebody`s psychological baggage necessarily, you see the person walking out of the light.

During Breaking The Waves, I was on my own in a hotel room. I think I would have been impossible to live with. When you go home, you have to pretend to be the person you are at home.

I have a sort of unspoken principle, which is that I don`t want to let it change me so that I treat people badly, or anything like that.

I thought it was time to jump into that Hollywood mainstream and see what the temperature was. And it was warmer than I expected.

I don`t think I will be less good because there`s less pressure on me.

I`m lucky I don`t do the kind of work where the main thing is that you`re the girl and you look gorgeous. I don`t look like that. I`m a funny-looking.

It`s a whole different kind of anxiety. But the great thing about doing a theatre job is that once the ball starts rolling you just have to go with it, it`s inexorable.

I grew up without a television. It meant that I read lots of books and entertained myself.

And it is very sexy as well: somebody says I`m taking you on a surprise date, you don`t know where you are going and you can`t see and then you put your hand out and there is a tiger. Amazing.

You have to play the logic of a character.

I think Silence of the Lambs was a great film and when somebody does that kind of suspense thing, with that much restraint, it`s impressive.

Yeah, a lot of people think I`ll be a tortured nutcase when they meet me.

I had done theater at school and really enjoyed it. I got a whiff of that sense of excitement that goes with it when I did school plays.

I do think you feel a little bit like you are preying on people`s lives.

On journalists constantly asking her if she`d like children, especially as she had been married for 10 years: "`Yeah, I was asked that every single time, and it did feel quite personal. Especially if you say that yes, you do want children. You have to say if you`re actually trying for them. And you don`t always especially want to tell the whole world how that`s going.`"

"The challenge in playing Bess [in Breaking the Waves] is that, in physical, psychological, intellectual, moral, ethical and political terms, she`s a disaster - part saint, part clown. But she has an infinite capacity to love and believe. I tried to make the logic of that transcend those judgements."

On Hollywood`s perception of women as beauty objects: "I`m lucky I don`t do the kind of work where the main thing is that you`re the girl and you look gorgeous. I don`t look like that. I`m a funny-looking bugger. I don`t feel that I can compete, and I wouldn`t want to. Life`s too short to spend seven hours a day in the gym and starving yourself."

On her childhood preparing her for an acting career: "I was taught the value of imagination at an early age. I didn`t have a television. I read a lot of books and developed a good sense of storytelling. I was happy as well, and I think that helped. The more secure you feel, the more unbalanced you can let yourself become."

"I was a normal, rather dutiful child. I didn`t even rebel as a teenager."

"I wasn`t prepared for the way people responded to `Breaking the Waves.` Suddenly, I was being interviewed and being asked all sorts of questions. All my life, I`ve loved movies, but I didn`t foresee the glamour of the Academy Awards. In England, the awards are reported as straight news. In America, they`re considered the height of glamour." - On her two 1999 roles, "Angela`s Ashes" and "Cradle Will Rock", which had Oscar-potential.

"The first Oscarcast, I was definitely functioning in a surreal mode. It was like I was watching myself watch the ceremony. Yet I had a good time. Hey, wearing a beautiful dress and being surrounded by beautiful people is not a terrible way to spend an evening. And I had a great time at all the parties. The second Oscarcast, I just went and planned on enjoying myself. People think of me as such a serious actress, but I find myself behaving like a gadabout." - On her sudden success and America`s award shows.