I Don't Spend A Lot Of Time

My Dad Had A Personal Style Which Was Very Attractive. It Was Quite Reserved And Quite Elegant, And It Was Infectious.

I Used To Joke That One Of The Reasons There Was A Lack Of Classical Work On My Cv Was Because I Couldn't Operate In Those Kinds Of Trousers. Which Is A Joke, But It's Actually Also True - If I Want To Appear In Public I Want To Look My Best. If I'm Onstage I Like To Do Contemporary Work, Largely Because Of The Trousers, Because Of The Clothes. I Like A Decent, What We Used To Call A Lounge Suit. Then I Can Start To Motor.

You Have All These Plans To Act, And Maybe Do It Rather Elegantly, And Then They Turn The Rain Machine On.

I Admire David Hare As Much As I Admire Certainly Any Writer Ever. What I Like About His Writing Is It Is Very Conscientiously, In One Way, An Attempt To Reproduce The Way People Actually Speak, But It's Not Just An Attempt At Naturalism. It's Stylised And It's Heightened, To Great Effect. It's Elegant And It's Funny And That's The Way To My Heart, Frankly.

When People Warned Me There Would Be Long Periods Out Of Work If I Became An Actor, I Couldn't Keep A Straight Face Because That Was Exactly What I Had In Mind.