Opening a play is just tough. The idea that actors are weirdly protected from it is a myth. If you imagine yourself having to spend two and a bit hours cooking bolognaise, remembering a whole major work by David Hare and speaking it at the correct moment between chopping carrots and stirring the onions in front of an audience - the normal human response is 'Please, can I go to the airport?'

One of the great regrets of my life is that I smoked. If I could say anything to anybody starting out in life it would be, 'Whatever you do, don't smoke'. I have had to recover from that and been lucky that I have been able to stop.

I think in the old days, everybody used to act really quickly because Hollywood was built by theatre people.

I have never owned a computer. I am one of those weirdos. I've never needed a computer. I'm lucky that I have a job where I'm not required to use one.

I am a fan of rehearsal. I like doing it [scene] over and over and over and over until it looks like you never did it before.

I like American black soul music, that was my first big enthusiasm.

The way the elderly are treated, and in some cases warehoused and medicated, rather than nurtured and listened to, is distressing.