That's one of the lucky things about getting the success later on. I know how I want to dress, I know what kind of house I want to live in, I just know more about myself, and that's true about the roles I want to play and what parts of myself I want to express. You're just more in touch with yourself.

I meditate. I do transcendental meditation and I have been doing that for a long time and that does just clear the mind. I am not religious at all.

I was never completely destitute. I think I borrowed money once off a friend, but I've always been quite careful with my money, having come from not much of it.

Sometimes they come to you and it's a small role, so it's about the experience and the journey and mixing with people you know you will learn from. Or sometimes it's a scene in a movie that you think, 'I just have to play this person.'

Oh, I'm definitely a wild child.

I got knockback after knockback at auditions. Just before ‘Mulholland Dr.’ my agent told me I was so intense I was freaking people out. She told me I was a brilliant actor but the feedback was that I made people feel uncomfortable because I was so nervous and intense. I just sat there and blubbed. My mum was staying in LA at the time and I went to her and said: ‘I just can’t do this. I’m not cut out for it.’ She just said: ‘Don’t believe a word people say about you. Forget them.’

Liev cares about a lot things. Israel is one of them. We had the good fortune of going there a couple of years ago. To share that experience with him was a great pleasure.