Scott Derrickson breathes humour into a character with a very strong identity in the '60s and '70s, that psychedelia era of Eastern mysticism meeting the West.

[Doctor Strange] is difficult, he's arrogant, but he's kind of brilliant and charming and you'd think, "Yeah, I'd want him on my head if I needed brain surgery." He's good enough to warrant his arrogance and he respects other people but not when he thinks he's right and he'll just do what he deems needs to be done when he knows or feels that he's right and the problem from humility's point of view is that he is right, he's really really good at his job.

That's something I have to work on: to separate what really matters, to conserve energy by not worrying about what other people think.

Pull the hair on my head the wrong way, and I would be on my knees begging for mercy. I have very sensitive follicles.

As an actor, to be part of that story's [Marvel univerce ] terrific. I've enjoyed it so much as a fan and now I'm getting to have a go myself.

Mads [Mikkelsen] and I have a really epic brawl - a week shoot, lots of rehearsal - and he was just delightful. He's a dancer and a gymnast so he knows how to plant the moves. He was always saying, "Are you okay?" When you've got that level of mutual consideration you form a family very quickly.

There's no shame in stealing - any actor who says he doesn't is lying. You steal from everything.