In the end, there's something of the puritan work ethic about me that roles really must sustain me on an intellectual level.

You never know when you're taking a job, ever... but you try to take good scripts. That's all you can do as an actor - take the best thing available. Even then, it's not [really] in your control. Certainly not in film and TV, because there are so many other elements. You just have to take control of your own performance.

People need revelation, and then they need resolution.

The best shows succeed because they tap into a national conversation.

Quiet people, people who arent given to emotional outbursts, people who are economic with words - theyre also fun to play, but you find yourself needing a laser precision in those roles. Otherwise you just sort of stand around, looking slightly brain-dead. You worry about being uninteresting.

I guess I'm just good at playing repressed individuals. I'm lucky because those are often the roles that catch people's eyes.

I've always had a 'Work hard, play hard' attitude to life - I still do - but sometimes you get involved in something that needs a calm, methodical approach.