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'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.

I always compare reading anything on the Internet to listening at doors. If you don't want to hear anything bad about yourself, you should never do it.

All films speak to their times. It becomes obvious only after.

At school I briefly wanted to be a palaeontologist, but I was no good at chemistry and physics.

We turned the lights off to save money, so you can't really see it. It's the same show. Hopefully, there are lots of laughs and lots of great personal stuff, but it is explicitly a darker season [4 of Sherlock Holmes].

The first film I can remember seeing on TV was 'The Brides of Dracula.' I was instantly hooked.