Working hard is important. But there is something that matters even more, believing in yourself.

All it takes is for me to be seen chatting up a girl for [tabloids] to, you know, make up some crappy headline about me being a sex rat or whatever they call it.

I was very much a product of the public-school system. There was only one other kid in my class who had parents not involved in the stock market or law.

I think part of me would love to play a drag queen, just because it would be an excuse to wear loads of eye makeup.

The paparazzi were outside the theatre every single night, but we came up with a cunning ruse. I would wear the same outfit every time - a different T-shirt underneath, but I'd wear the same jacket and zip it up so they couldn't see what I was wearing underneath, and the same hat. So they could take pictures for six months, but it would look like the same day, so they became unpublishable. Which was hilarious, because there's nothing better than seeing paparazzi getting really frustrated.

When you're in the position I'm in, you have two options: you can either shut yourself off from everybody, from the world, and not live a full life. Or you welcome everybody into your life and occasionally somebody will try to take advantage.

The best thing I've learned is, if you're going out, never go out alone - you leave yourself vulnerable. If you've got someone else there you trust, they can say, be wary of that person. I probably used to be too trusting of people.