I found that golf saved me from going to the pub every day so instead I play golf with other unemployed actors. I'm a member of the Stage Golfing Society and I play golf with all sorts of people.

Doing 'EastEnders' wasn't exactly suffering, but my soul's not in quick-fix TV. Theatre doesn't pay like TV work pays, though. We all have to live, don't we?

I used to go into bars on my days off, and I decided that wasn't too good for me.

I grew up near King's Cross station in London, living in an apartment block where my dad was a caretaker.

In my game, you get brokenhearted a bit. You do a play, get a bad review in the papers... actors are sensitive; you think of all the work you've done, and it breaks your heart, but you learn to shrug it off and to carry on.

Being a part-time pop star was perfect, really, when I wasn't worn out by the partying.

When I was a kid doing television, they'd stick a leather jacket on me, and I would be the thug.