My name is actually quite a popular name in Scotland. People elsewhere always think it’s far more exotic than it is. In Scotland, it’s a common name.
Comedy has always been important in my family. If you got in a good joke at the dinner table, it meant more than almost anything else.
I think there’s a lack of quality roles for women in comedies. Most actresses get cast as the “eye-roller” or “the serious one,” while men in comedies get to do all the fun, silly stuff and muck around. Sometimes you just have to search hard for a role or create one for yourself.
I tell my girlfriends – ‘Imagine if all the time you put into waxing and primping, you took all of that energy and put it into something useful.’
Growing up, there wasn’t much emphasis on being nice or naughty. As a family, there wasn’t much discipline. It was more relaxed at home, which I’m grateful for.
I think kissing scenes always feel awkward but there’s just no way around it. But it’s a part of the job.
Women should not have to adopt masculine traits in order to succeed. You should be able to stay as a woman, and in tune with your femininity, and still be equal.
I think all married couples tend to run things by each other in every capacity and we’re not different to them.
The most romantic thing a guy has ever done for me is starting a family. That’s as romantic as it gets.
I have very eclectic taste in music. I like everything from Nirvana, which is featured in the film, to world music, to orchestral and jazz. For me, the nineties were about Oasis, because I was travelling around Britain when that band exploded onto the music scene.
I don’t like junk food, just because I don’t like the taste of it, but I don’t go to the gym – ever.
I love ‘Monty Python,’ ‘Black Adder,’ ‘Fawlty Towers.’ I’m a huge fan of British comedy.
I love acting, love it. It’s the greatest fun in the world. I’ve never had trouble feeling extremely grateful.
I always try to choose material that I would want to go and see. I don’t choose movies anymore to be in that other people wouldn’t want to see.
You can’t underestimate how traumatic divorce is for the children.
I loved Morocco. It’s very exotic and different from anywhere I’ve ever been. I had an amazing day there in the high Atlas Mountains near Mount Tamadot, when I rode by donkey into a Berber village and drank some mint tea with a Berber family. It was exceptional.
Unlike typical romantic comedies, Definitely Maybe is not formulaic or predictable and it spans a decade while being set against a political background. Also, the audience doesn’t know who ends up with who until the very end, which makes it a sort of “romantic mystery comedy”.
I’m not a fashionista. I don’t have much experience in that world.
The great thing about doing physical comedy for film is that if it doesn’t work you’re not exposed. It ends up on the editing room floor, so it gives you a lot more room to experiment I guess. But I really enjoy doing it. I’m very comfortable tapping into my inner idiot.
In real life I’m obviously a lot more shy, but once I’m on set and in costume and I’m hidden behind the person I’m playing I feel quite free to experiment.
I still write. I’d love to write more trashy chick-lit. At the moment, I just re-write my own lines, which probably annoys most directors – though, thankfully not Adam Brooks!