Working at BBC, at the head of one of the top dramas, is a tradition for great actors.

It was deeply important for me to understand where Mandela came from. Because we know where he was going, and that's a famous story, but who was he? Where did he come from? What was his upbringing?

There's a fast-track if you can do the networking. For some personalities it works, but for mine it doesn't.

We're all human beings. Experience is experience, let's just be honest. Let's not try and dissect suffering into a race, or whatever you want to call it. We're all human beings, one way or another. All races have gone through times that are challenging; that's part of being a human.

I'm never shaken or stirred.

I watch my daughter wanting to be like other kids and getting upset that she's not. But I always try and instill in her the idea that she's perfect as she is.

Being able to work with Ridley Scott on this film is like being able to play on the Olympic team for actors.