I'm still a member of the Empire! Although I sometimes feel like an American with a British accent - you get contaminated after so long.

How many movies do you see when you can say this director really knew what film he wanted to make? I can count them on the fingers of one hand.

Well, I needed the work - that's the honest answer. I haven't worked for a while, a couple of years. So I thought it would be nice to get back to work and earn some money.

I grew up in Deptford in south London, and at that time I used to wear toppers, loon pants and tonic suits from shops like Take 6 and Topman. I was a bit of a soul boy, but I had a very eclectic taste in music - I was into James Brown and Bowie; and I was the only kid in the neighbourhood who would also be listening to Chopin.

You choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color.

You take what you know, and you put it through your own prism. If I play characters that break down or cry, it's Gary Oldman crying; it's not the character crying.

I was never really that interested in the punk movement. I was a blues guy: I liked Motown, James Brown.