I went being unemployed for three years to being the lead in a British feature in the days when we only made two a year, 1990. It was ridiculous really.

Television, although It's in steep decline, still occasionally gives voices to people who don't have voices.

I care more about telly because it made me an actor and there's a much more immediate response to TV. You can address the political or cultural fabric of your country.

I had to help to coax the performances and I really enjoyed that extra responsibility.

What we have is the here and now, and what we have is each other, and let's find a way to deal truthfully with each other.

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!

The film is about Joe discovering who his mother and father are and his relationship with them, and the identity crisis he goes through once he finds out who his parents are.