I don't know if I'm an action star or if that's just how things are shaping up. I would hate to be boxed into that forever, but it's probably just a strength as far as my type goes, and I'm fine with that.

And as you got older, the training became more developed and precise. We did plays, we had voice classes with great dialect coaches. But I was never into it on a school level; it was this kind of private little thing I did. At school I was a rugby guy. At school I was a rugby guy. I was causing trouble with my mates and skating and tagging buildings, and smoking bongs.

My mum is a school teacher and my dad is an electrician.

If I had the chance to spend a day with Werner Herzog, I would want there to be a canoe involved. I want to be down in Patagonia or something, and kill some kind of wild beast and skin it and gut it and cook it. And then turn its fur into some kind of layer of warmth. And then trek through the hills.

I was a bit of a show-off in school and loved playing dress-up, and my passion for it just grew as I got older.

Some people have this really clear memory of making that decision, and I don't. My earliest memories of being involved with drama or acting were in elementary school. My sister and I got dropped off at an after-school improvisation class, a time-killer for kids while parents were doing the groceries. I'm 6 years old, and I remember running amok and playing these games.

I was always realistic about the fact I wanted to be involved with big films.