There is so much to do on a film set. It is an extraordinarily invigorating and wonderful place to be, when things are running well.

Fifteen years before I became a screen actor, I was in the theatre. A lot of my work was comedy, which I loved doing. It's harder.

There is always something about the villains that I'm able to play, quote unquote, that isn't villainous.

The environment forces you to be utterly dependent between "action" and "cut" because the environment is perfect on your fellow actor. So as an acting exercise, it's absolutely thrilling that the focus that we had to bring to each other echoed in life, echoed in art. And when you get that parallel, it's really thrilling and it's full of surprises, but it all has a logic.

All the great writers root their characters in true human behaviour.

You don't go to a town to present the play and have applause at the end of it, but that's benign conquest. It's a glorious way of exploring other landscapes and other cultures in a very life-affirming way.

I try and reduce myself to an almost blank slate and hope to God that I am creative.