When you've been going on about something for a while, it is always satisfying to discover that other people agree with you.

I love playing half squid/half crab guy because you can get away with a level of acting that if you tried it anywhere else they'd arrest you for crimes against acting.

I used to joke that one of the reasons there was a lack of classical work on my CV was because I couldn't operate in those kinds of trousers. Which is a joke, but it's actually also true - if I want to appear in public I want to look my best. If I'm onstage I like to do contemporary work, largely because of the trousers, because of the clothes. I like a decent, what we used to call a lounge suit. Then I can start to motor.

When you are in something that you're proud of and it's funny and it's a good night out and all of those things, there's nothing quite like it. The rewards are proportionate to the amount of alarm and distress it causes you.

More people saw me in 'Love Actually' than had seen me in everything else I had ever done up to that point.

I'm lucky that I get to play a wide variety of parts.

I'm not famous for my back story investigations; I'm lucky that I work with good writers and it's usually in the script.