Are you a gadget fiend or a technophobe?

I'm a bit baffled by technology. I've picked up bits of knowledge along the way, but nobody's ever sat down and taught me. I'm also dyslexic and numerically dyslexic, which helps (laughs). I tend to throw gadgets at someone else and say "You deal with it". So this could be a very short interview!

How has technology changed your working life as an actor?

Not much, if I can help it! There's an app called Line Learner, which was recommended to me, but I couldn't figure it out. I was erasing whole scenes and it was confusing me more than it was helping, so that was hopeless. Some people seem to have a way with these thing but I just can't get it right. Human error always gets in the way. Actors do auditions over Skype these days but I can't. I hate seeing myself in the corner of the screen. You look like you're in the back of a spoon, which is deeply unattractive.

Do you use the web to research roles?

Yes, it's useful for that but you have to be careful. A lot of the information out there isn't absolutely accurate. Occasionally someone's shown me something about myself and it's usually wrong. Mistakes tend to get perpetuated online. I find books more interesting and helpful: social and cultural histories, poetry or novels, anything to read around the character or period that I'm working in.

What's the most expensive gadget you own?

My MacBook Air. I've also got an iPad and iPad Mini, so I'm well-equipped with wonderful gadgets. I just don't know how to use them properly. If anything goes wrong with my iPad, I call my friend Elizabeth in America and she helps me by phone. Unfortunately, I can't call her until 2pm so I'm completely buggered in the mornings (laughs). My iPad Mini works fantastically, it's the iPad I can't get to grips with. It's always freezing. At the moment on my iPad Mini, I've got 11 new emails but I've only got three on my iPad, so go figure.

Are you a phone junkie?

I'm still working up to an iPhone. I've got an ancient Nokia. It's been dropped down toilets and all sorts. I've been through five or six of them. But iPhones especially I find distracting. I've been to lunch with people who've had their iPhone and BlackBerry on the table at the same time. It's a compulsion, like Tourette's. You feel like they're not really with you. It's an extra guest.

How much of a problemare they in theatres?

It's so irritating. Phones going off or their little lights glowing in the audience. If people aren't really listening or watching, I'd rather they go away. I saw this wonderful bit of graffiti in New York that said "Fucking look up". It's true, people walk along the street, constantly looking down at their phones. I find smartphones speed up time too. People say: "Have you not seen this?" I reply: "No, go away, I've got things to do." It doesn't give you time to think. I'd rather sit down and catch up at the end of the day, rather than have it all with me 24/7.

Do you use abbreviations or emoticons?

No, never. I've got predictive text and the iPad changes my spelling mistakes as I go along, which is grand for me, as I'm not a very good speller. Before I became an actress, I went to something called Speed Writing, which is like a cross between shorthand and textspeak. I'd seen it advertised on the Tube, saying "Get a good job fast in three months". I ended up going to secretarial college for six months, not three, and still failed miserably. I don't use those little smiley faces either but some of my girlfriends add little champagne glasses or high-heeled shoes to their messages, which is fun.

Is there a gadget that you bought but never used?

An Oscar juicer, which was supposed to be super-duper. I tried it about three times. The third time I made a juice that made me sit on the toilet for two days, so I went off it pretty quick. (Laughs) That's £300 worth of fantastic machinery sitting there doing nothing.

Do you have a lot of fancy gadgets in your kitchen?

No, I even still make coffee the old-fashioned French way, with paper filters. I buy my coffee from Fortnums and freeze it.

Do you do online banking?

No, it scares the hell out of me. I'm part of that generation who prefers speaking to a person.

Do you use self-service checkouts in supermarket or wait for a manned checkout?

Yes, I've just about managed to work that one out. Although there's usually a person there to help. I still seek assistance pretty much every time, which sort of defeats the object.

You've done voice work for computer games but have you ever played them?

I'm afraid not. My grandchildren are completely hooked and I'm envious, because that's the first step in knowing how to use these things. My youngest grand-daughter even goes up to the television and tries to tap and swipe it. Technology is a world-changing, wonderful thing – I just wish I could catch up a little bit more.

What gadget would you like to see invented?

I want a chip in my head that means I can just download a script, or a piece of poetry, or a speech into my brain. It all goes onto the chip and I'll just know it.

What's the most technologically advanced project you've worked on?

Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone. I played a Hogwarts teacher called Rolanda Hooch. We did the Quidditch sequences with me sitting on a bicycle seat with a broomstick on the front, and this machine making it go up and down. It was programmed to do certain moves but the computer broke down, so we'd get off and go to have lunch. Then we'd get back on again until the computer broke again. Repeat this process a few more times and that was my day of flying through the air. But that was the first Harry Potter film. I'm sure by the last one, flying scenes were done in a much smoother way.

Which gadget from Harry Potter would you like to see recreated in the muggle world?

The ability to fly would be fabulous. And I'd like an invisibility cloak as well, so I could spy on people.

If you could time travel, where would you go?

Paris during the belle époque period. I'd love to have been around for that explosion of energy and creativity. Or 14th-century Venice. Except Mr Crapper wasn't around then and toilets are very important to me. Toilet facilities are the main thing that stop me time-travelling to other eras. (Laughs)

You can catch Zoë in the new series of Mr Selfridge, due to air on ITV1 in early 2015.