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

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.

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.

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

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

You can't go around saying you're the best, all the time, 'cause it puts a target on your back.

I want to know everything. I'm probably a bit of a pest for the producers because I ask a lot of questions.