It's always nice to be challenged.

And once you're unafraid with death, I think your capacity for violence is immediately increased. Once you're unafraid of death, you are a very, very dangerous adversary

And, for any performer, to be able to go deep into character is fantastic. In film you only get to do that if you're the leading character. But in television you get 18 hours to really test the audience and take them to the edge of how far they will go with this character. I can step over this line and I love that.

You're an actor who's Irish, not an Irish actor. And you shouldn't be limited by your extraction.

I'm Irish and very proud of being Irish, but as an actor, your extraction should be secondary, really. You should be able to embody whatever character it is, wherever the character comes from. That's always been important, for me. I'm an actor who's Irish, not an Irish actor.

With some films you can sort of slide in, get a haircut and you're in.

I like watching film, I go to the cinema, but a lot of times I go to see kids' films.