I've always been battling against my sense of dignity and refinement. I was embarrassed by any bodily functions when I was younger. I could never even blow my nose.

Southend is a dormitory town for London. But it also had this thing of being the playground of the East End - a glamorous holiday town.

You know, you have to allow life to play itself out, don't you? And one thing you learn is that it doesn't stop. It moves on.

I prefer the finesse of French humour. English humour is more scathing, more cruel, as illustrated by Monty Python and Little Britain.

I'm under the impression that this notion of decency is disappearing from our society where conflicts are made worse on cinema and on television, where people are nasty and cruel on the Internet and where, in general, everybody seems to be very angry.

I can't help being Christian because I was brought up in Britain, and the morality of Christianity is part of the fabric of this country.

As you get older naked stuff [on film] gets easier. It's more to do with the role than what men in the audience think. There's a liberation about it.