An 18-page audition?

They asked me to put myself on tape, which really doesn’t come up that much because I get offered a lot of stuff. But I had to come off my ego and I thought, I don’t mind because I want to work with these people. I had to put 18 pages on an iPhone. Afterward, I thought I really had the voice of this character. The similarity between her and other roles I’ve played is a calmness on the outside but you know every single wheel is turning on the inside.

You’ve done a few episodes of American comedies, from “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” to “BoJack Horseman.” Did you want to change the image of you only playing that type of calm-on-the-outside character?

When I was 15 or 16 I entered a drama competition in London and I came in first and I got a cup called the “Versatility Cup.” And that always stuck with me that I wanted to be able to play anything, even roles I felt I couldn’t play. I would never have thought I could have played Kalinda. I remember reading the character description and it was “stunningly beautiful Erin Brockovich.” I said, that’s not me.

But you still went for it.

At the time I was putting myself out for pilots and I wasn’t getting anything. And then I got an email from my agent who said, “I think you should possibly have a look at this.” I spent hours with my other half recording at home. From what I understand, I was the last on the list after they’d seen everybody.

Do you remember what scene you read for your audition?

It was when she opened her buttons and said, “These are better than subpoenas.” I thought, Oh God, my mum will be horrified.

Was she?

No, she was amused.

You won an Emmy for playing Kalinda in 2010 and a decade later, there are still questions about tension on the set between you and Juliana Margulies that was rumored to be so bad that you couldn’t even film your final scene together. Will you ever tell your side of the story?