I had done a little bit one other time. This character [in Jack Reacher] is a psychopath, but I had been hired by Carlton Cuse and Randall Wallace.

The role I played [in theatre] was originated by Ian McKellen in 1979 and he came. I didn't know he was there and I walked out at the end of the play, which is a very intense play - my character is required to do some really horrible things - and the director was waiting backstage and he goes, "Obviously I didn't want to tell you guys, but Ian was here today" and we, of course, freaked out.Ian McKellen said some really beautiful, kind things, one of which was, "It's so much harder to watch than it is to do."

The guy [Tom Cruise] is a machine.

Sociopaths are more complicated psychopaths; the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath is a sociopath is incredibly charming. There are a lot of sociopaths that are CEOs. They don't necessarily kill people but they're able to walk into a big social function and make everybody think they're the kindest, coolest, smartest, most interesting person in the room.

It's pretty tough on your loved ones to try to get back into a rhythm, especially when all you want to do is do nothing.

I read as many books about the psychology of a psychopath as I could and I researched what exactly happens to soldiers.

When I came on to Jack Reacher, I had just taken my girlfriend on vacation and ate everything I could. I put on about 15 pounds, so when I met [the Jack Reacher team] I was clocking in at about 180. They looked at me and were like, "You're just gonna lose five pounds, we're gonna keep you skinny".