The success of the film is down to the crew.

Sometimes it is easier to play someone who is far away from you.

Being a salesman and an actor were not that dissimilar: It is a good lesson in covering up your feelings. No one wants to buy from someone who looks depressed.

I just love jumping into someone else`s life. It is a relatively cheap way to experience things you would be too scared to contemplate in your own life.

I try and do films I know I`m going to enjoy watching as well as being in.

I am an actor through and through.

In terms of jumping into a character`s skin, I try to immerse myself in the role as much as possible to bring me closer to them. All I do is what`s required to achieve what I want to achieve.

People go to see a film because it`s a great story and it`s visually exciting to watch.

The point is to be involved in the moment.

It is wonderful to be in a place where your character has trod and you`re walking on the same ground he has walked on. It`s quite eerie.

I got involved in script development from the beginning. It was nice to see how a film gets made right from the beginning. It was quite hands-on for me.

When you do bigger films, the financiers take more risks.

When I`m playing a character like Jonathan in Ripley`s Game I want to be in the moment when he`s feeling pain; this very ordinary person who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances.

It`s difficult to get films made, especially films about poets.

You`d have to have one hell of an imagination to completely make up a story, but historians are very anal about what they think should be portrayed on screen. Thankfully they don`t make movies; we do.

What was the reason for invading Iraq` Was it a humanitarian crusade or an economic one` I would be inclined to say the latter. It was the same with the Civil War, because the landed gentry`s money was being stolen by the king.

You should be careful what you wish for, as the reasons for war get confused. One person can be very clear in their motives, but others can have different agendas.

With the situation now, people might be intrigued to see how a country coped with war all those years ago.

It quite often happens that they attach a name to a project and it doesn`t get all the financing it needs.

I read all the books on Fairfax in the British Library, did a lot of horse riding and studied military tactics of the time, finding out that he actually laid his rose garden out in strategic formations! But Method acting is a label I don`t really understand, because there`s a method to everybody`s acting. In terms of jumping into a character`s skin, I try to immerse myself in the role as much as possible to bring me closer to them. All I do is what`s required to achieve what I want to achieve.

You couldn`t take football away from me, you couldn`t take acting away from me.

My focus never wavered; I never accepted the film was not going to be finished.

You grow up a lot in terms of your understanding of the industry and how to deal with the corporate things.

Fairfax was incredibly important to the shaping of the country.

Method acting is a label I don`t really understand, because there`s a method to everybody`s acting.

(When asked to define his career): "I do what I feel is right at the time. Opportunities come along and I take them or I don`t. I feel happy about what I`m doing, and I work instinctively. I`m doing a Dylan Thomas film, "Map of Love", with Mick Jagger producing again. It`s a wonderful script."

Sometimes you just can`t walk away from films you`re offered, like the Dylan Thomas thing.

(On his role in "Ever After"): "I had never worn a codpiece before and I don`t think I ever will again."

I don`t like acting things; I like feeling things.

Sometimes people say to you that you should try to be in a bigger film, but it`s the way it pans out.

You`re making a movie, not a documentary. If you made a film like the historians would like you to make, you`re not going to go and see it. I`d rather see paint dry.

I read Arthur Miller`s Death of a Salesman, and I could recognise that world. My dad had been a salesman for the last 30 years of his career.

I`m doing a Dylan Thomas film, Map of Love, with Mick Jagger producing again. It`s a wonderful script.

I tend to do golf charity things because it`s much safer and you don`t get much chance of a broken arm or leg.

It`s nice to be asked to do good projects.