I was with a friend of mine recently who was dying and while he was lying there with his family around his bed, I just knew that was it, that was the best you can hope for in life - to have your family and the people who love you around you at the end.

There's something very self-conscious about a writer who's addressing his reader. Don't do that.

Conservative's the last thing I am.

I love acting and don't find it to be very hard. I recognize when I've nailed it, and I can be very proud of myself.

I've played in pipe bands in Scotland, and I've always played guitars and drums and stuff.

In far Eastern Russia, there's just some towns that time has forgotten. I guess they used to maybe be industrial or something that are now there's just lots of rusty hulks of buildings and a lot of people wandering around, a lot of alcoholism and violence because people have got nothing to do and no work. Yet people were very generous.

You know, an audition usually is you come in and read the scene and if you're lucky, you get to read it twice.