I come from a long line of teachers. Not only did I not go into the family business; I had an aborted law career and I played in bands. 'Disco Pigs' was my first professional acting experience.

You need to be as clean of a slate as you can be, as an actor. You have to try to be open to every experience.

You do your due diligence, you read as much as you can, and then, ultimately, I find that you discard that and you concentrate on the characters [of 'Antropoid'] and you can draw on [the research] if you wish, but I think ultimately it's about bringing as much truth and honesty to the portrayal as possible.

In terms of trying to improve as an actor, for me it's always important to return to the stage. After doing a piece of theater for a prolonged period, I can think I must have surely improved in some way as an actor - you must be fitter than you were prior to doing it. For me, theater is very, very important in keeping things fresh and dangerous.

I don't think they'd ever make a movie about Chuck Baker but I'd love to play Chuck Baker

My wife can see always how a part affects me personally because she has to live with it.

I'm not interested in a good man's life. I'm interested in contradiction.