Casting is very, very important.

In good comedy, the structure comes from truth and that weird eye that looks at the way life is.

If all you've got to do is a couple of lines, dear Jesus, don't let them down. Other people are taking responsibility.

I know I don't go looking for directors.

I've worked a lot with Noah Baumbach, and he doesn't make it easy to like his characters, but the stories are funny and witty and there's an edge to that kind of humanity.

Then you realize that the preparation and the planning of this small army of people trying to head to the single aim of creating a work that's going to excite people is very risky. Of course, the odds are that it's not going to work out because there are too many possibilities of it going wrong.

I'm looking forward to locking swords with Douglas Henshall and working against the stunning backdrop of Shetland. I came to Scotland a lot in the '70s and '80s in various theatre productions and of course to film Hallam Foe but this is the furthest I've ever been.