It's funny: I'm a lifelong musician, but because I principally play the piano it's been a solitary thing.

Shakespeare doesn't really write subtext, you play the subtext.

I took a bit of a back seat, I had kids and I wanted to focus on them. There's that period in the late '90s, the early 2000s, where I didn't do a great deal.

And costume is so important for an actor. It absolutely helps to get into character; it's the closest thing to you, it touches you. Some actors like to go into make-up and then put their clothes on, but I like to dress first; that's my routine.

If one could have a wish, or an alternative life, I would've liked to have been John Lennon.

By the way, the Harry Potter series is literature, in spite of what some people might say. The way J.K. Rowling worked that world out is quite something.

The book tells you everything you need to know. The book is the map of the world that you're in with the character.