Failure is simply the non-presence of success. But a fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions.

The philosophy that I've embraced isn't about sitting under a tree and studying my navel.

I came back out here from England and I was there for a while and it was beautiful and it is just great to see London going from Spring to Summer and Autumn.

Although it is a fantasy film, it's as real as it can be. You have to imagine that an audience will buy their ticket to a cinema and get on a first-class flight and journey to Middle Earth.

Vig used to call me 'Elf boy', and I'd call him 'filthy human'. As an Elf, I never got a scratch on me, never got dirty. And Vig would come out with blood and sweat all over him. And he'd say to me, 'Oh, go manicure your nails.'

I trained for three years at drama school to be an actor - not a celebrity.

I think it's sort of a rite of passage for a British actor to try and get the American accent and have a good crack at doing that.