I See Myself As Improving. I Think

My Mom (kate Mccauley) Is An Actress, So I Guess She's The One That Taught Me It Was A Possibility. For As Long As I Can Remember, I've Always Played Make-believe ... It's Something That I've Always Done, That I've Always Been Comfortable Doing.

After Princess Diaries, I Was Labeled A Good Girl, And For The First Eight Years Of My Career I Had To Fight To Get Any Other Kind Of Role. But I Like Fighting For A Job, Actually. Once You Get It, You Feel Like You've Emerged Victorious From The Scrap And You're Like, "ok, This One's Mine. Did It. Done."

When I First Thought About Becoming Jane Austen I Had To Forget About The Fear, Or At Least Choose Something Else To Focus On Because It Was Becoming Paralysing, I Couldn't Focus. I Felt Frightened, Not So Much By Her Fans' Reaction To My Performance But That I Would Be Playing Someone Who I Think Is A Legend, Who I Respect And Admire So Much. I Didn't Want To Fail, So I Was Putting A Lot Of Pressure On Myself.

I Don't Take Anything For Granted. I've Been Given Extraordinary Opportunities, I've Also Fought For Extraordinary Opportunities. So I Don't Believe You're Ever Just There In This Golden Moment. You Probably Always Have To Remind People That You're There, That You Have Something To Offer, Maybe Something Beyond What They Could Imagine For You.

Oftentimes, What You Wind Up Learning Is Very Different Than What You Expect.