My father came from an intellectual and studious avenue as opposed to a brawler's avenue. So I had to go further afield and I brought all kinds of unscrupulous oiks back home - earless, toothless vagabonds - to teach me the arts of the old bagarre.

Every time you need protein, get yourself a boiled egg in. But your main meals would be chicken, or hummus, or white fish. You can lose about a pound a day. But you can do this stuff over a period of time, and you can have your happy days. It's about motivation and it has to be something that's realistic for you to keep up.

Whatever character you play, remember they are always doing something they are not just talking.

Vanity is normal in performers. Does it bother other people? All the time. But nine times out of 10, that says more about them than you.

The only thing I can do is wipe my arse, brush my teeth, turn up and do the best work I can.

Online dating is cool but I think Myspace and Facebook is a little bit off key.

I'd learned how to lie and manipulate from an early age so a combination of that, desperation, having to have my own fridge and my umbilical cord back... I had to go out into the world. Then some angel somewhere said: "Have you considered going to drama school?" And this sounded like the solution to all of my problems.