A lot of characters now on TV have moved into being anti-heroes, but I wanted to be the hero.

When you read the poem, you wonder, what might Grendel have been? Could it have been a person that was turned away? Someone that was disfigured or deformed? Like everything else did, it came from somewhere. It's really exciting, and not knowing is part of the magic and mystery.

There's a great freedom you get when you're making TV that you don't get when you're doing film.

I like to know what the gestation of the idea is, I like to know the foundation, and I do a lot of reading and research.

I come from the theater and you normally have four or five weeks to prepare. For me, the fun of the job is to pull yourself into a subject that you know nothing about.

A lot of characters now on TV have moved into being anti-heroes, but I wanted to be the hero.

I've been trained by a two-time world champion kickboxer, who's local to where I come from, and who is really just there to keep me fit and healthy while I'm shooting.