Sometimes being away, on location, I feel like I'm away for much of my own life. I want to be better at staying connected.

As an actor, you are aware of how a role can seep into your real life.

[Sherlock Holmes] has moved from being someone who was sociopathic, work-obsessed and slightly amoral, into being someone who has a certain degree of a private life, which is very, very private, with The Woman, or Irene Adler.

My massive motivation in life is to make parents proud. But even that has to stop at a point.

I thought, well, why am I giving up on my primary dream to work doubly hard, to do something as an alternative to what it really still want to?

I'm not an overnight success. I've been doing it for 12 years. It's been lovely and varied so far.

One of the best things about being an actor is that it's a meritocracy.