5. Democracy

I find it just so fascinating to watch how different generations change, and how they change other people’s minds, how they change the laws. And the democracy of America is just so extraordinary: the Constitution, the amendments to the Constitution, something that we don’t really have in England in that same way. I’ve always found that interesting, but because I’m doing “The President Is Missing,” it’s even more so. We went to visit [Congress] a couple of weeks ago, and I, like every other tourist, took a lot of pictures. And the picture that is my favorite, that is currently my screen saver, was Nancy Pelosi’s sign on her office door.

6. Poetry

My husband, Joseph Coleman, is a wonderful poet. He sees things in a different way than I do, and he writes poems describing things that I would never know or am not party to. It makes me feel like I know him better. And it’s always that wonderful thing when your partner does something that you couldn’t do. There’s always a little bit of distance between you that’s just so kind of thrilling. I also love Billy Collins because he always comes at my brain sideways. I find him very funny because he catches me off guard. Just when you think you know where a poem is going, it turns the other way.

7. National Geographic Photographs

I’m not really a social media person. But one of the very few things that I follow on Instagram, apart from my family, is National Geographic. I just love seeing photographs of the natural world, of places that I’ve never been.

8. Ballet, Opera and Musicals

I act on the stage, so I know what it’s like waiting in the wings, preparing. But when I go and see opera, when I go and see ballet, when I go and see musicals, I just find them so life-affirming, because they do something I could never do. I went to see Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake” twice in its final week. I saw “The Marriage of Figaro” at the Met not that long ago. And “West Side Story” — I loved that one, too.

9. The Museum of Modern Art

My husband works near there sometimes, so we’ll meet there for lunch. And if he’s got a break, we’ll just wander around and see what’s going on. A while ago I saw Song Dong’s [“Waste Not”]. It was the history of his mother’s life with all of her ingredients laid out, and that was one of my very, very favorites. But there’s always something new that gets your eye.

10. The Power of Words

We live in a world where our means of expression are getting shorter with texts and quick emails, and the art of the letter has gone. And I come from a land where you grew up breathing Shakespeare. In the end, words are just so important to me. Words can become emotional tattoos. If somebody says something beautiful to you, you can remember it forever.