I Generally Do Things I'm Proud To

Opening A Play Is Just Tough. The Idea That Actors Are Weirdly Protected From It Is A Myth. If You Imagine Yourself Having To Spend Two And A Bit Hours Cooking Bolognaise, Remembering A Whole Major Work By David Hare And Speaking It At The Correct Moment Between Chopping Carrots And Stirring The Onions In Front Of An Audience - The Normal Human Response Is 'please, Can I Go To The Airport?'

I'm Not A World War Ii Buff. I Know A Little Bit About It, I Was Taught The Other Side Of The Story In School, So It Was Unfamiliar To Me, The Idea Of A German Resistance, And Yet It Was Considerable.

I'm Crazy About James Brown. I'm Crazy About Soul Music. And Then The Blues. Rhythm And Blues.

Often In America People Would Assume That [as An English Actor] You've Had Some Sort Of Deep, Classical Training, Or That You're A Shakespeare Enthusiast. I Have Zero Interest In Me Performing Shakespeare.

I Think In The Old Days, Everybody Used To Act Really Quickly Because Hollywood Was Built By Theatre People.