Michelle Dockery

People will consider me a part of their lives for however long 'Downton Abbey' lasts. It's a lovely thing to feel as an actor.

Being in the same scenes as Maggie Smith and Shirley MacLaine is something I will never forget.

I'm not on Twitter, but I am on Instagram and follow Lena Dunham and Usher.

We take so many of our freedoms for granted nowadays - I can travel where I like, I can do any job I want - but I think chivalry has been lost a little bit.

I'd like to do something that involves music.

I don't have to walk around in hats or find remote places to go for lunch! I don't get recognised that often.

I'm quite into the French way - simple elegance with just a suggestion of sexiness, nothing vulgar.

You learn an incredible amount doing theatre, not just about to behave.

Until I was 27, I'd maybe been to America once and, like, Ibiza when I was 18. That was it.

There's no particular role that comes to mind that I'd like to take on, but for me, it's about playing interesting characters and not just two-dimensional ones.

I'm the youngest of three sisters, and my parents have always encouraged all of us to do whatever made us happy.

My dad worked all sorts of jobs when I was growing up and finally ended up as a surveyor; my mum delivers meals to old folk around where we live. We didn't have much money when I was growing up, but I had a very happy childhood.

I'm taller than most actresses, so most corsets tend to be too short in the body.

The way I see it, the third series of 'Downton Abbey' is all about change and how each character adapts to those changes.

It's a bit of a history lesson, being an actor. I was in 'Burnt By The Sun' at the National, which was set in Stalinist Russia, so I discovered all about that. You learn so much as you go along.

The whole acting game can sometimes be a bit false, and you meet a lot of people in it for the fame - so there's nothing I love more than going back to Essex.

I want a house with a garden, but slap bang in the centre of London. Next door to a sushi bar.

Silk scarves are my thing. I tie them to my handbag or thread them through belt loops or wear them in my hair. Never round my neck, though.

It's great to have a home and everything else that comes with it.

Playing Isabella in 'Measure for Measure' pushed me to my limits. Janet Suzman was directing, and she was very hard on me. I went through phases of not liking her at the time, but I loved her for it in the end.

You can find a connection with any Shakespeare role you play.

It is impossible to watch a 'Friends' episode too many times. Phoebe is my favourite character. I used to play her songs on the guitar when I was a teenager. 'Smelly Cat' is very easy. It's only about three chords.

I regret not learning to drive when I was younger.

I love singing live, actually. And I'm dying to sing in a role, whether it's in a musical or a biographical film about a singer. It's always been one of my aspirations.

I loved the 'Die Hard' films growing up and the 'Taken' movies. They're so entertaining, and I enjoy being on the edge of my seat.

A good friend of mine works at Oxfam and has been closely involved in the charity's aid efforts in Syria.

I'm not from aristocracy, or anything like that.

I just want a really varied career, and just to keep going, really.

I'm not accident prone, really, but I was cutting something and sort of lost control, and it went through my big toe. There was a lot of blood and I nearly fainted, but its totally fine now.

My godchildren went to see Taylor Swift in concert and got to meet her. They literally ran toward her and hugged her, and it was amazing. I got big bonus points for it. I'll remind them when they're teenagers.

At the age of eight, I auditioned for 'The Sound of Music' and made it through to the third round, where we all stood in a row like the Von Trapp family and had to sing.

It's always fun to play dress up.

I think the first time I realised 'Downton Abbey' was a hit was when I was sitting in a tea shop in New York and the couple next to me were talking about 'Downton Abbey,' and then they recognised me.

I think my parents knew before I did that I was going to be an actress, because I was doing impressions of Margaret Thatcher at the age of four.

I just enjoy acting, whatever area - theatre, film, television.

I wasn't an academic. I hated maths and science at school. I couldn't concentrate.

If Shakespeare was around today I would ask him out to dinner. The only thing I don't like about him is the way he did his hair.

When I was a child, I went to stage school three times a week in the evenings - singing, ballet, tap, modern and acting, and I loved it.

I don't get recognized all the time, but it tends to happen more in America, and people are so lovely when they do.

I really enjoy singing, it's entirely different to acting because I'm just being myself.

I think some period drama can be quite alienating, but 'Downton' isn't. This is going to sound quite, um, pretentious, but someone said that it's like a soap written by a poet.

It's old news, me and my accent, but it always seems to make headlines.

For years, I was often afraid to speak up when I didn't fully understand a script. I'd tie myself in knots.

I do believe in one true love.

'Othello' was my first Shakespearean discovery. I was obsessed with drama at school, and I studied the play for my English GCSE. Desdemona is the part that everyone wants, but Iago's wife Emilia is the one I've always been drawn to.

I think the success of 'Downton' is partly because there are effectively 18 leading characters, all given equal importance, so it's enormously involving on many levels. But also, it's a new story. It's not like Dickens or Austen, where everyone knows the denouement.

I come from a very working-class background, so my family would have been downstairs in the past, as opposed to upstairs. People are often quite surprised to hear that, that I'm not actually posh.

The kitchen is the most important place in any house. Visit your family, and that's where you'll end up. Go to a party, that's where everyone congregates.

Shakespeare's work is like a good song: you never really forget the main lines.

'Downton Abbey' has become this huge thing, and I really enjoy the success of it, but I sometimes find myself on the outside looking in, which is sort of a healthy way to look at it so you don't get too caught up in it.