I love actors who are wonderful - like John Cusack and Russell Crowe, and wouldn't it be a treat to eventually direct them one day.

In film and television you have to be able to see the whole picture in a different way than you do on the stage because you shoot out of order and you're working with technology.

Maybe they say they do but I don't think many actors really enjoy trying to do a Shakespearean play.

And not to mean that I think I'm some special person, but I think we're all here for a very specific reason and once you figure out what that is then you're on the right track and we're all on the ride together.

I’ve been looking at oil paintings from oriental artists lately, and the one artist who’s inspired me right now is a man named Hokusai and I’ve had his book by my bed looking at how he interprets landscapes – mountains and water and flowers and birds.

But on stage you're able to just take the character from one point to the end and it's a fluid, organic piece. It's about being completely present all the time, right there in the moment.

And I think because there is an essence of me that cares about other people and what other people think then that then makes me seem very sweet and polite.