They're such hierarchical things, film sets, they're sort of mini societies. Often they're incredibly political places.

I always think of comedy as being spontaneous, and yet everything about filmmaking is not spontaneous.

I draw and play the piano badly. But when I’m doing those things, I’m concentrating so hard there’s no room for worry. I find that onstage, too.

My first film, 'Like Minds,' was with Toni Colette, who was extraordinary. I mean it was basically a mini-masterclass for acting on film at a time when all you could probably see were my eyebrows bouncing up and down on screen.

Making 'Birdsong,' on the one hand you have how prestigious it is and the reputation of the book, which is something that's an extraordinary piece of work. Sebastian Faulkes is a genius. So you feel that responsibility when you're portraying that character that he's imagined and millions of readers have pictured.

They're such hierarchical things, film sets, they're sort of mini societies. Often they're incredibly political places.

It can be a miserable profession, acting, because you always want what you can’t have.