I've never been a fan of directors who clutter a piece with all sorts of crazy preconceptions or weird ideas.

I do listen to a lot of music. Actually, I very often ask directors if they can offer up a play list. They very often have one anyway that they're listening to.

You do feel a certain obligation to shows that raise your profile like 'Downton' has. But there are definitely other exciting opportunities out there.

I've been exploring a lot of different avenues with a number of very different and very, very exciting filmmakers and writers. That's been the trip. I like to find something very, very different from the last thing I did, which might be similar to something I've done before, but as long as it's different from the last thing I did, it keeps me entertained.

The comfort zone is the great enemy to creativity; moving beyond it necessitates intuition, which in turn configures new perspectives and conquers fears.

At the age of 11 I was about 6 ft. tall and my voice had completely broken. That caused problems. I was this gangly, spotty, very unattractive kid. I wasn't cool and I wasn't a nerd. I didn't even want to fit in with anyone.

It's nice to get your glad rags on for awards like the Baftas, but it doesn't happen all the time.