My parents always knew I was hopeless at everything else, I was fortunate in that I was backed all the way. I came to it late and only because I thought there'd be loads of women and drinking!

We all need a firm sense of identity.

I heard the various terms of abuse at school and probably indulged them in the way you do as a kid.

I don't like to watch playback. But being on the set, watching the way the camera is being moved and the way the light is being used, you do get an idea of it.

I wasn't always such a great fan of Shakespeare, mind you. I can guess we all at one time had it rammed down our necks at school, which tends to take the edge off it.

Jacobean plays, before Shakespeare, were particularly visceral.

The person who gives you your first job is so important in any industry.