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.

Mostly, I'm drawn to great characters and great worlds that use weird things for their language - whether it's dance, whether it's pop music with Justin Bieber, or whether it's magic.

I'm always amazed at the way some actors' behaviour is truly disgusting. That's one thing that will never happen on one of my sets if I ever direct.

No. I am not a royalist. Not at all. I am definitely a republican in the British sense of the word. I just don't see the use of the monarchy though I'm fierce patriot. I'm proud proud proud of being English, but I think the monarchy symbolizes a lot of what was wrong with the country.

I'm not clumsy, I'm just accident prone.

I like the idea of not having to do stuff for the money, and if I want to, I can pick indie projects for the rest of my life and be quite happy doing that.

The one piece of advice I would give to any actor is, if you want to go out on the street without being recognised, without even being looked at, go out with a 6ft 8in beautiful transsexual. No one gives you a second glance. Especially when you're 5ft 5in.