I think you have to find the humanity in the character and then the deterioration is a part of the process - the journey of the character. It's like playing King Lear. You can start off as a nice old man who finishes up crazy.

In very general terms 'Top Of The Lake' is about good and evil. It's a deep dark mystery. It also deals with lots of fascinating human relationships, and it's also about the battle of the sexes.

I'm becoming a frustrated director, I think, in an actor's body.

I was 11 when a teacher suggested to my parents that they should send me to drama classes to curb my disruptive ways in the classroom. The next Saturday I was acting, and thereafter it became a ritual of my youth to see a show at the Belvoir on Sundays and, if I was lucky, another at the Opera House on Monday after school.

I would love to direct a feature and have Robert Connolly produce it. That would be really fab.

Well you just have to own it, I suppose. Own the character, which is difficult.

My life at the moment is a bit like my wardrobe. Organised chaos.