If not exactly raging against the dying of the light, I was at least a little cross with it.

I prefer sneaking in the back door.

That's what makes characters interesting. If Sherlock [Holmes] had started out being a straightforward man, we wouldn't be talking about him now. If he became one, that would be interesting. But you have to give him somewhere to go, as [Conan] Doyle did.

I don't care what other people think any more about me writing my own parts.

I grew up with low self-esteem. I didn't think I was very pretty. I had glasses, red hair and was generally quite a spod.

If not exactly raging against the dying of the light, I was at least a little cross with it.

I'm an actor and a writer, that's how I think of myself. Sometimes my time is divided equally, sometimes less equally, but that's what I do.