The Graham Norton Show

Carey Mulligan talks about working with animals; Noomi Rapace says she learnt English from watching Graham's show; Amanda Holden talks about Simon Cowell; and Jessie Ware says Prince William named her dog.

Carey Mulligan reveals that the producers of her movie Far From The Madding Crowd tried to protect her and her co-star from the dangers of the film's many sheep extras, "It was a health and safety thing, you can't touch anything because of the insurance and they didn't want us to act with real sheep. They were adamant we shouldn't go near the sheep so they made us have a sheep double - a sheepskin rug taped to a big water bottle, which they bounced around in the water... we gave that a go for a minute but we couldn't and said, 'Give us the sheep.'"

Revealing acting with animals did actually turn out to be quite dangerous, she adds, "But they let me ride a horse and I did have a concussion after coming off. I was genuinely concussed for about six weeks of the filming; there are parts I don't remember! When we shot the last scene of the film, I came racing round the corner and got thrown off and landed on my head. Ten minutes later we were filming the big declaration scene and I just dropped to my knees. Matthias [Schoenaerts] thought I was acting and just carried on and then I slumped over over."

Talking about her crush on Alan Rickman and how gullible she is, Carey says "I was performing at the Royal Court Theatre and he is a patron there so I saw him about a lot. Everyone in the cast knew I was obsessed with him. One day I got a letter in my dressing room from him saying how much he loved the show - I was practically in tears and very excited and then people began to snigger because the boys had written in. This happened three times! And I fell for it every time and the second time it was written in the handwriting of a child and badly spelt and I still believed it!"

Noomi Rapace, revealing Graham was instrumental in her learning to speak fluent English so fast, says "When I was going the press tour for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo it was a nightmare because I didn't understand what people were asking me, so I decided I need to find a way to make this language mine so I read all the time and watched TV - including your show. You could say you were my teacher."

Asked if she thought that having piercings for that role was taking preparation to extremes, she says, "I've done worse. As an actress, I do whatever I can to find the character and sometimes you need to change your body or your look. I made a decision when I was 20 that vanity would never get in the way."

Talking about the recent ban of her new movie Child 44 in Russia, Noomi says "I just heard today and it really surprised me. It's a film - it's art that we are doing. We are bringing life to a book and to characters and for me it is very sad that it is banned."

Amanda Holden, denying that her nipples are insured for £2million says, "Allegedly they are but, no, it's not true. They're not worth a fiver each - I've had two children!"

All three guests talk about tattoos; Noomi, perhaps surprisingly, claims to have none, whilst Carey reveals a small one on her wrist, "I was in The Seagull when I was 21 and for a long time after I wanted to get a seagull tattoo because the play meant so much to me. I then met the director Steve McQueen and was trying very hard to get the job in Shame and told him about the tattoo and he said, 'Well get the tattoo and you'll get the job.' I took it really seriously and went out the next morning and got it. I don't regret it at all." Adding, "But I found the idea of a tattoo parlour really intimidating so I went to Selfridges!"

Amanda, who reveals a suspiciously fake looking tattoo of Simon Cowell at the top of her thigh, says, "He's given me employment for the last nine years so I thought I would do it in his honour. He's paid my mortgage for nine years so it's the least I can do."

Reminded how horrible he was to her recently during a radio show prank, in which he rang her and told her she was to be replaced by Cheryl Cole, Amanda says, "He was outrageous. It was absolutely horrendous. I was in so much shock that for once in my life I was completely gob-smacked, very polite and very professional. I didn't swear and I didn't slag off Cheryl Cole, it could have been a career ender for me. I took it but all I could think was, 'How am I going to walk down the red carpet and smile and wave when I've been sacked.' I completely and utterly believed it but thankfully it was a joke."

Asked about the new series of Britain's Got Talent, and some of the terrible acts, she say "There's a lot of eccentric acts; the man who played the comb was a genius and the silent chicken did nothing and is probably now on a table with roast potatoes." Describing the act Ruby Red as "like the Calendar Girls on acid" she says "They are fantastic and I want to join them." And on the singer who got the golden buzzer while his sister was rejected, she says, "It was awful, but it make really good telly!" Defending Wendy, the speaking dog, she says, "It's definitely real!"

Jessie Ware performs Say You Love Me live in the studio before joining Graham for a chat. Talking about her recent acquisition of a puppy, she says, "I was in a line up to meet Prince William and I know you're not meant to ask the royals any question, but I couldn't help myself, and said, 'I need you're opinion. Can I ask what puppy name I should give?' I gave him three choices and he picked Stanley."