I don't think I'm egotistical, and I know what my limits are: I'm a black guy who's probably losing his hair. But I'm happy to play roles that I'm given, and I'm happy to play roles that I write.

As a man - no longer a teenager that can play those really young roles, but as a man - I think I've only just got good in the last three or four years. I only watch my old films because, as someone who wasn't trained, that's how I look at my mistakes; I see something and I go, "Well, that's not good," and I learn from my mistakes. Same with the writing and same with the directing.

You'll never see me in any of the tabloids because I've made a conscious effort to stay out of that. I'm not interested in fame. I'm interested in hard work and letting my work speak for what I do. I've been in high-profile shows but you don't see stories on me because I don't go out and court them.

I couldn't tell you the ratio, but probably for every job you see me do, there would be 20 rejections.

I can't always be making "British films". Why should we be making films about corsets and horses and girls learning to drive when Americans send over an event movie and make five or 10 million?

I don't like doing things that are too easy.

I just started to write because I was fed up of not seeing the stories that I wanted, so I was like “Stop moaning and write something.”