Natalie Dormer didn't have a backup plan if she failed at acting.
The 'Game of Thrones' star has always wanted to be an actress and even during lean periods of her career, she never considered giving up and doing something else.
She said: "There was no plan B. There can't be. It was always, 'This is who I am, I'm an actor.'
"I want to tell stories. I'm obsessed with exploring the human condition. The way humans navigate what it is to exist and facing morality as we tell stories.
"Because life's hard, you know? Look at the news, the world is unjust. It's my way of coping with it."
The 33-year-old actress insists she hasn't got a "grand plan" for her career but always looks for projects that will "challenge" her.
She said: "There's no grand plan. I just want to do good work.
"I study every script on a case-by-case basis of what I think is going to challenge me and make me grow."
The 'Hunger Games' star feels "grateful" that her success has come relatively late in her career.
She told Stylist magazine: "I'm kind of grateful that I'm a late bloomer because it's given me time to develop as a human.
"It's also about learning how the industry works, not taking things so personally and learning to - it sounds like a cliché because of the titles of the projects I've been in - play the game.
"If you don't enjoy the journey, if you're just striving to get there, what's the point?"
Tagged in Game Of Thrones