Olivia Williams

I couldn't get any of the ingenue roles when younger because at 5 feet 9 inches with a deep voice I was always too... genue. My career has completely happened since I was 29.

I wanted to play a TV detective because it's a rite of passage; I wanted to experience every area of acting. I haven't done comedy or as much Shakespeare as I had intended.

I don't feel under pressure to work because I love what I do and I wanted to do the projects that came my way.

I used to have nightmares when I was a little kid that I woke up prematurely and opened all the Christmas presents. And then I would be so relieved when I woke up and I realized that I hadn't done it.

My husband and I click wedding rings sometimes and say, 'By the power of the Castle of Greyskull!'

While writing books about the past, I think about the present. It's not intentional, but somehow my books end up being written under the sign of a political mood.