There's so much going on in Andrei [Bolkonsky]. He's wrangling with these big existential conundrums, and he tries out different routes to fulfillment. He tries falling in love, that doesn't work. He goes to war and searches for military glory, that doesn't work. He does the quiet life of a farmer. He's always active. That's what I loved about him, he's always looking, searching. He's really inquisitive.

As an actor, I think most people have a tendency to want to demonstrate that they can act, they can emote.

You really try to work the character out and spend time in the headspace of the character. That's what I did.

Being in Russia filming War & Peace...filming War & Peace alone is an extraordinary experience, but to be out there was just magical.

I'm quite a smiley guy, I have my moments, but I think I'm generally of a relatively optimistic nature.

There's so much going on in Andrei [Bolkonsky]. He's wrangling with these big existential conundrums, and he tries out different routes to fulfillment. He tries falling in love, that doesn't work. He goes to war and searches for military glory, that doesn't work. He does the quiet life of a farmer. He's always active. That's what I loved about him, he's always looking, searching. He's really inquisitive.

If you're constantly stepping outside of the character and judging them, you'll never really be able to fully engage because you'll always be slightly cynical.