People are intrigued and fascinated, almost obsessed with the private lives of great public personalities.

There's four biggies. There was Elizabeth I, George III, Victoria, and the current queen, who really dominated four eras.

If in the sex scene you happen to be naked in front of a lot of other people you've just got to put that aside, in the same way that you have to put that aside in a fully-clothed intense dialogue scene because you're entering into that particular imaginative state of play.

Like any classic you hope to get rid of all the varnish that's built up over the centuries where people expect it to be in a certain way. It's a mighty play. It's about a very old king who also happens to be a very old father, so you've got the state and the domestic levels in there together. It's a story in extremis. Everyone knows the end, there's only two people left alive.

I always felt thrilled and amazed that I could put actor on my tax form.

I often thought I was in the wrong business. I was pretty seriously thinking of tossing it in before I shot Shine. I do not know why. I was pretty restless, I had been through a bad period of stress induced anxiety - panic attacks - and I was not sure of what I wanted to do.

I think that Ionesco's greatest weapon is that he's able to make us laugh at the darkest corners of our souls.