For someone who made her name starring in Girls - the television show about a mixed-up group of twenty-somethings living in New York - it is surprising actress Allison Williams often struggles to identify with the messy lives of her peers.

Contrary to her on-screen character, uptight and judgmental Marnie Michaels, the immaculately groomed 28-year-old has a fully functional career, marriage and social life. “I experienced my twenties vicariously through Marnie, who I started playing at 22,” she says.

“Meanwhile, I was living the life of a much older person. No social life, a dog, husband, same apartment, same job for six years - pretty rare for my generation.”

She doesn’t go so far as to call herself an “old soul” but adds, “Even when I was a child my best friend was a 92-year-old woman. I am traditional: a big note writer, and I like using the phone. There are lots of things about me that aren’t like the rest of my friends. But I try to learn as much about millennials as I can, so I can stay afloat among them.”