I think I'm a bit of a dreamer. I don't like the reality of life to impinge much on my life.

When you're a kid you have this sense of wonder and wholeness and a strong sense of your own identity.

The great thing about stage is that you have a live audience.

People are more likely to pass me on the street without recognizing me, and that's good.

As human beings, of course, we're all compromised and complex and contradictory and if a screenplay can express those contradictions within a character and if there's room for me to express them, that's a part I'd love to play, so much more than a character who is heroic and one-dimensional.

I don't think I'll ever escape the fact that I don't belong anywhere in particular. I've often dreamed about going back to Nigeria, but that's a very romantic notion. It's a hideous country to go to in reality.

Having agreed to play Elrond, I realized how much had to be worked out about this character: the idea of portraying someone who is immortal, for one thing; plus the fact he is noble, wise, powerful, good - and beautiful! I began to think that he was altogether impossible to play!