There's a huge raft of roles that actors in our culture perform, and you can see any one of about three Hamlets in a year. It's not something to be completely daunted by.

You'd have to be pretty hard-nosed not to feel some sympathy for the guy [Doctor Strange].

My own grandfathers were a submarine commander and a 'desert rats' tank operator in the Second World War.

I'm quite surprised by how many people grew up with this character [Doctor Strange ].

An inflated sense of self-importance? Absolutely, but I think it comes from Doctor Strange need to control things and that's what happens to all surgeons, I think. There's a huge degree of uncertainty and bafflement.

I've never been front and centre as an iconic American character [like in Doctor Strange]. Day to day, you know you're painting on a very big canvas.

For brain surgeons it's particularly difficult to deal with failure. It was fascinating to learn about that whole world.