In recent years we've seen an explosion of creative programming, and I think it represents a third golden age of television because the creators have more control over the story. The audience doesn't care about the platform. They care about the content.

Have we become so celebrity-obsessed that there is no longer a difference between a character and an actor? I hope not.

Over a spell of about three years, I played a series of roles that were, for me, all very different, but most of them came out within a six-month period. They all dealt with a kind of dark territory that in some cases had been mined before in movies.

Sometimes its the crazy people who turn out to be not so crazy.

There's something really incredible about watching what someone else does with a role that we know: the Hamlets or the Henry Vs or the Othellos or the Cleopatras that we've seen on stage.

Im attracted to things that are challenging and fun and interesting, and it certainly seems that audiences enjoy them as well.

I always thought that, in a way, you want your Superman to be a total unknown.