A wounding tongue. I'm working on it. Perhaps its the Celt in me.

I have just returned from the dubbing studio where I spoke into a microphone as Severus Snape for absolutely the last time.

Each character I play has different dimensions. I'm not interested in words that pull them together.

I never expected to have any kind of film career, to be honest. It was all a bit of a surprise. But I was in a big hit play on Broadway. America, as many people will say, says yes more often than we do. And so I was suddenly surrounded by people saying yes. But I was aware that was 'cause of what I was in. It had a big impact.

All I want to see from an actor is the intensity and accuracy of their listening.

There's a voice inside you that tells you what you should do.

Three children have become adults since a phone call with Jo Rowling, containing one small clue, persuaded me that there was more to Snape than an unchanging costume, and that even though only three of the books were out at that time, she held the entire massive but delicate narrative in the surest of hands.