Born in Devon, Cole, 27, posed for her first Vogue cover at 16 and was Model of the Year 2004. Her films include St Trinian’s in 2007 and The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus in 2009. Having gained a double first in History of Art from Cambridge University in 2011, she went on to launch impossible.com, a social network focused on volunteering. She lives in London and has a daughter with her partner, tech entrepreneur Kwame Ferreira.
When were you happiest?
I was happiest a week after my baby was born. I think that was when the oxytocin was at its highest.
What is your greatest fear?
Falling.
What is your earliest memory?
Lying over my mum’s shoulder, being carried down the street I grew up on in London.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Self-doubt.
Where would you most like to be right now?
In the mountains in Portugal.
What is your most treasured possession?
My daughter, Wylde. It took us a while but Wylde was the first name that my partner and I both liked.
What makes you unhappy?
The news.
What is your most unappealing habit?
Looking at my split ends.
What is your favourite smell?
Wet oak trees.
What is your favourite word?
Paraphernalia.
Which book changed your life?
Harry Potter, which had a powerful effect on my imagination when I was a kid and validated my belief in magic.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
An actor.
Is it better to give or to receive?
They are equally important because they co-exist. Every time someone gives, someone receives.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Expensive dark chocolate.
To whom would you most like to say sorry and why?
To all the people who might have made things in crappy conditions that I have bought in my lifetime. And to all the future generations for my carbon impact.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
That little girl who just cried.
What does love feel like?
A warm bath.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Bob Marley, Desmond Tutu, Michael Jackson, Nelson Mandela, Emmeline Pankhurst, Emily Brontë, Vladimir Nabokov, Buddha, Ada Lovelace.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Umm and like.
What is the worst job you’ve ever done?
The only job I was fired from was working for my mum when I was 12. She was working for a local disability organisation and I was doing her computer admin. I had to beg her to rehire me, which she did.
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Nothing, because obviously if I changed one thing then everything else would be changed. So I take it all as it is.
How do you relax?
In nature.
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Don’t Worry Be Happy.