When people are feeling insecure about their jobs and there are cuts to be made, it's hard to put up an argument that the film industry needs funding.

I have derived enormous confidence from being a husband and father.

If you're in the movie or in television, your failures are very public, and so are your successes. You weigh them up against each other, really.

If you are lucky, you have your moment. But it is never more than a moment. You have to enjoy it while it lasts.

I mean the truth is, I've always been interested in the whole setup of the old world.

My childhood was a happy one, spent in a tall house in South Kensington and later in East Sussex, but my early and mid teens were less successful.

A lot of actors find it impossible not to ask for the audience's sympathy. They have a need to twinkle.