Olivia Williams

From a very young age, I wanted to get up on stage whenever I went to the theatre – the actors just seemed to be having so much fun. One of my worries about theatre, in fact, is that the actors are quite often having more fun than the audience.

Do you suffer for your art?

If you have a scale of human suffering that’s at its height if you’re a detainee in Guantánamo, or living in Japan right now – then no, I don’t suffer. But if you want to make an audience believe that you’re in Guantánamo or Japan, then I think it’s your duty as an actor to engage with that suffering.

Stage or screen?

That’s like saying you’ll only ever eat sushi or Christmas dinner every day, for ever. I want to eat both sushi and Christmas dinner alternately, please.

How does the British film industry measure up to Hollywood?

There’s a Dunkirk spirit around British independent movies – you don’t kick up a stink if your trailer’s nasty because you’re sharing it with 10 other people. It’s the opposite in Hollywood. If you don’t use the limousine they send to pick you up because you’d rather take your bike, or make your own tea rather than letting them make it for you, they don’t respect you. Suddenly, you’re always the one filming at 4am.

Should government funding for the arts be cut?

It’s a tough one, but we’ve all got to take the hit. I can’t be the person to say to someone, "You can’t have a blood transfusion because people need to go to the theatre."

Is there anything about your career you regret?

Nothing – every bad choice has ended up being a great anecdote. After my spell in Hollywood, I did a series of British independent movies, none of which were hits. But I did get to drive in a car with Bill Nighy.

What one song or piece of music would work as the soundtrack to your life?

The Bach cello suites. They encompass all human emotion.

What advice would you give a young actor?

Do something else.

What’s the worst thing anyone ever said about you?

[The critic] Nicholas de Jongh once said I was "curiously wooden". You read something like that and crawl around for the day, questioning your reason for existing. But then you have a glass of Chardonnay and a Pret A Manger choc bar, and you feel much better.

In short

Born: London, 1968.

Career: Films include The Postman, Rushmore and The Sixth Sense. Stage work includes Richard III for the RSC, and In a Forest, Dark and Deep, which is currently at the Vaudeville theatre.

High point: "Jumping on to Kevin Costner’s horse [in The Postman]. The stuntwoman had failed three times, so I did it myself."

Low point: "Playing a corpse in a cop show."