Hayley Atwell is running late. She sends a message ahead: is it OK to bring her dog along? And then — at last — she is here: tall, beautiful and eager, with a long-haired dachshund draped over one arm, completing her appearance in the way another woman might once have worn a fox fur. She cuts such a dash with her leopard-print dress and gorgeous smile, it is impossible to be vexed by the lateness for more than a second. A swift introduction to the dog Thandi and a swapping of notes on the satisfactions of dog ownership ensue. Dogs are wonderfully non-judgmental. Not that Hayley needs to be in flight from judgment — no one has ever written an unkind word about her. At 28, her career has an unstoppable momentum. And looking at her, this does not surprise: everything about her spells star quality. We are meeting today because she is in two Channel 4 adaptations of novels this autumn: William Boyd's Any Human Heart and Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth. She is the love interest in each — though the characters are centuries apart. In The Pillars of the Earth, a quasi-religious 12th-century epic, she plays Aliena. Any Human Heart is epic too, though confined to the 20th century. Hayley plays Freya, his second wife and the love of his life. How could I justify that? I needed Freya not to look like an idiot for going out with the wrong kind of man. Thus far, she has specialised in complicated women and famous writers and directors Nicholas Hytner, Andrew Davies and Woody Allen. It was the BBC adaptation of The Line of Beauty 2006 , directed by Saul Dibb, in which she played self-harming, manic depressive Catherine Fedden, that made her name. Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream 2007, in which she was Ewan McGregor's girlfriend followed and Julian Jarrold's Brideshead Revisited 2008 , in which she was a bewitching Julia Flyte. In the same year, she played Bess Foster alongside Keira Knightley in The Duchess, again directed by Saul Dibb, and rose to new heights: her dark, accessible beauty a contrast to Knightley's aloof, porcelain perfection in one scene, she teaches Knightley's scandalous, 18th-century society figure, Georgiana, about the pleasures of sex. Hayley squabbled with Knightley about Bess, who Knightley, reasonably enough, dubbed a home wrecker Bess seduces the Duke, played by Ralph Fiennes. How rivalrous of Knightley did she feel off-screen? She was warm, hard-working and generous. She taught me there is a responsibility to cast and crew if you are leading a film. There was a genuine kindness between us that developed quickly, so I didn't feel so awful doing certain things… I felt: 'We trust each other here, we are OK. Is she involved with an actor? We met as drama students at Guildhall and hated each other. I found him harsh in his honesty. He is not a people pleaser. I was intimidated by how comfortable he was in his own skin, not trying as hard as I did to win friends… Later, he became the anchor in my life because he didn't take much of what I did that seriously. She sends herself up. Actors seldom act in interviews, but she makes me feel, to my delight, I am almost meeting her nearest and dearest. I feel vulnerable some days. I am often lost in my own world, with a frown on my face. My boyfriend goes: 'Oh hello, Frownie Frownie…' I had quite a difficult time a year and a half ago because I had worked so much and was very tired. I was overwhelmed by the changes that were happening, even though they were lovely and positive. One thing that is odd is that when you get a level of success and your life suddenly looks great, you can still feel crap. Every time I cook him a meal, he goes: 'Babe, you should go on Masterchef. I asked her to describe her parents and say what she had inherited from them. The best way to do this is to visualise my mother when I was a child. She was — is — a very fabulous woman. I would describe her as a searcher of truth. She is always seen by others as so together but is actually beautifully, heartbreakingly vulnerable. And I am the only one who sees that. If I were to do a parody — she is going to hate me for this — I'd say: 'Fuck off — I am meditating! She was always open and willing to share. I get my voice from her. I say it sounds as though she gets her questing spirit from her mother too. Her father is part Native American and a shaman. He has ADHD so doesn't really do getting in on time or crossing things off lists. He is quite ethereal, an Aquarian, a thinker. He can put anything into a spiritual context. His answerphone message is brilliant. Please leave a message to match your impeccable spirit and I'll get back to you as soon as I can for massage and healing and anti-ageing products. How can you be against ageing yet all about inner worth and embracing nature? She is a compelling interviewee. And what is behind her mask? How does she feel about her appearance? That is who I was as a kid. I don't think I will ever be anything other than that. It is sheer delight when I see pictures of myself now because I think: that's not me. I was 'Hayley Fatwell' at school. I had the only-child syndrome of loving my independence to the point of being a bit socially retarded. The dog is a child substitute. By the way, I point out, you have sent the dog to sleep. I have heard all this so many times before. All she wants is to be really rich and famous. What is its history? It is from Afghanistan. If I suspect someone is not telling me the truth, I poke this in their face. More power to your elbow, I say, and to your ring finger.
