Quotes from Kimberley Nixon

When I first started out, I absolutely begged my agent to get me a Poirot audition, and my wish came true - I did a Poirot! I need to do a Marple to round it off.

I live in Wales but spend quite a lot of time in London - I stay with my brother. When I get home after being in Manchester or London for a bit, I forget how dark the sky is, and I won't have seen stars for ages.

I hadn't done comedy before 'Fresh Meat' - I hadn't really been seen that way, and then 'Fresh Meat' came out, and suddenly a lot more comedy scripts were coming my way, which was really great.

In my last year of drama school, I was Abigail in 'The Crucible' and Nina in 'The Seagull,' and I did some Shakespeare with the RSC. That's what casting directors saw me in, and I got put up for a lot of period drama auditions. I always get told I suit the costumes. I don't think I have a very modern-looking face.

I knew I wanted to be an actress, but I hadn't ever really told anyone. I'd always got quite good grades, so people assumed I would go and do a 'normal' job. My dad took me to my first audition for drama school and picked me up without anyone knowing, really.

Growing up, we used to watch a lot of 'Indiana Jones' and 'Star Wars' and wear hand-me-down jeans and jumpers. I wasn't really one for dresses.

I buy DVDs almost every week. I'm more of a film buff, so I usually buy more DVDs than CDs, but if I like someone's album, I will buy the CD of it.

I thought every other kid was like me. I'd watch films and act them out on my own and wish I could be one of the actresses. When I saw 'Pride And Prejudice,' the one with Colin Firth, I just absolutely knew that was what I wanted to do, and for 'Cranford' to be my first job was poetic, really.

I have six brothers, and in the past I've done quite a few girlie films, like 'Wild Child' and 'Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging' - so when they've been to those, they've been incredibly embarrassed. They won't be embarrassed going to see 'Black Death' - I reckon they're going to love it.

By the time you're 18, 19, you know yourself, and you shouldn't go against your gut feeling, which is a temptation in the first year of university.

'Fresh Meat' is the first comedy thing I've ever done.

A lot of my background is in theatre, so when you're on location, and the wind is really blowing, it's raining, and you've got mud all over you, it really keeps you on your toes.

I'm quite contradictory - a bit OCD, but quite untidy. I have piles of stuff everywhere, but they make sense to me. And I'll find the one thing in the room that's my boyfriend's, and complain about him leaving it out.

My character in 'Fresh Meat' is quite prim and tidy, and then I basically had no make-up for the whole shoot of 'Kidnap and Ransom' - apart from a bit of Vaseline to make me look even sweatier!

I absolutely adore Agatha Christie; so much so that when I received a kitten for my Christmas present, I called her Agatha, and I already have a cat called Hercule!

I'm very impatient, and if I get a new piece of technology, no matter what it is - I recently got the iPhone, which is very exciting - I can't be doing with reading manuals. I want it to work immediately and to do what I want it to do.

I have a PC because I don't know how to use a Mac. Actors always have Macs with them, and when I try to use someone else's, I can't get the hang of it. It's very strange; I don't like it.

I'm a tomboy and quite clumsy, so I'm more like the anti-sexy icon.

I always think my face is quite nondescript - it sort of fits in to any period. It's not really distinct enough for you to remember me from something.

I went to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, which was great but very different from a typical university. They sat us down in the first week and said: if you want to party, you've come to the wrong place. There was no lie-ins or skipping lectures.

I get mistaken for Amanda Holden; I've had that since I was 12. I get Carey Mulligan, too. We look quite similar, and she does 'Bleak House' and I do 'Cranford,' so people mix us up. I'm sure we'll play sisters at some point.

Whenever I'm in L.A, I see Jessica Biel.

Have I met Justin Timberlake? I have! I've been to his house.

Even though we know the origin of diseases, panic sweeps. It's one thing that frightens us, because it's your health and your body - it's more like a tangible threat; it's not like a foreign enemy you can fight. That was really what was uppermost to many of us whilst making 'Black Death.'