On so many levels, acting in film and TV is so much the sum of its parts, and somewhere in there, there’s an alchemical thing that makes something happen or not – that makes something connect or not. Now, of course you want to make work that people see, but the enjoyment I get out of acting is playing characters.
I do get stopped a bit now and then, but I can go to the supermarket and on the Tube without being noticed. It’s usually me that gets starstruck, especially by TV stars.
When I was living in New York, I had this slightly wannabe bohemian existence and took up painting, at which I’m appalling. I also bought several guitars.
Ladies and babies, and mortgages, for that matter, can all wait. Acting has done a strange thing to me, though. I often sit there, thinking, ‘I love this, but I wouldn’t put my daughter on the stage.’
It’s the weird thing Eton does – you’re at school next to lords and earls and, in my case, Prince William, so you end up being used to dealing with those sorts of people.
If you’re an English actor and turn up in America, they don’t have an opinion about where you sit. They have no idea what auditions to send you to, so they send you to everything.
If I do a film and have to get naked, that tends to dictate how often I go to the gym. Acting in ‘Richard II’ on stage was a huge physical workout, so I ended up more toned than I normally am.
I’m trying to buy a house and set some sense of roots because otherwise you’re constantly chasing one job after another, and you look back and you’ve had all these very extraordinary experiences with extraordinary people, but there’s not a line of continuity to it.
As a runner on a film, you are the lowest of the low, and yet you have incredible access to everyone. I can totally imagine that for actors in the middle of a Hollywood bubble, all they really want is a sense of normality, and that gopher can be a tap for that.
And you can’t complain about kissing Emma Watson. Isn’t that what everyone in the world wants to do? I’ve known Emma for a few years. She’s this amazing capacity of young and vibrant and brilliant, but also a bright, intelligent old soul.
Two years ago, I shot ‘Pillars of the Earth’ in Budapest – it was a big part, but I had a lot of time to sit around and visit cafes.
My first film, ‘Like Minds,’ was with Toni Colette, who was extraordinary. I mean it was basically a mini-masterclass for acting on film at a time when all you could probably see were my eyebrows bouncing up and down on screen.
Making a film or doing a play are completely different experiences and entirely fulfilling, but completely unique. I also think one complements the other. People often say that theater is about flexing your muscles, and is actually real acting, whereas I sort of disagree.
Making ‘Birdsong,’ on the one hand you have how prestigious it is and the reputation of the book, which is something that’s an extraordinary piece of work. Sebastian Faulkes is a genius. So you feel that responsibility when you’re portraying that character that he’s imagined and millions of readers have pictured.
I think all actors have a similar deal. You want some people who understand. Although it looks great – and is great – there are also shoddy moments when you feel really rotten, and when it’s going well, you’re not allowed to complain.