I don't know why I get cast in a lot of period pieces. Stephen Fry told me that I had a face for period, that I look like someone from 1920.

The better the script is the more you can commit, but you can only really commit with full confidence when you know the material is as strong as your level of commitment to it and it frees you up.

I'd like to have stayed in the Scouts beyond the age of 12.

I considered becoming a priest very seriously. I wanted to travel the world. By the time I turned 16, I realized I was only in it for selfish reasons. And, more importantly, I didn't want to sacrifice the ladies!

A cry-wanking scene is the struggle to live, in a single moment.

Film sets are a strange place, but an exciting place. I do love my work; I really enjoy going to work. But if you just spend all your time on film sets or even on stage, you can become a Michael Jackson figure, living in your own little universe.

I look at the Christian Bale movies, the Batman films, and that shows you that superhero movies don't just have to be about men in tights.