The Worst Thing That An Actor Can

When I Was Younger I Was Always Big; I Was A Fat Boy At School. I Had An Early Growth Spurt, And When I Went To Secondary School I Was Tall Enough To Be A Policeman.

I Think I Went Through Early Years Of My Career Sort Of Thinking, "well, Maybe I'm Just Not British Enough." And I Always Remember My Father Saying To Me, "don't Think You're English, Because However English You Feel, Some Englishman Is Going To Remind You That You're Not." Now, For Him It Must Have Been A Much More Acute Experience, Because He Immigrated To England. I Was Born There, So I Kind Of Felt I Had The Right To Assume That I Was British, But It's True. The English Are A Very Warm And Welcoming People, But There's A Streak In There That Reminds You, Occasionally.

My Father Was A Waiter Basically, And When I Got My First Professional Job As An Actor, I Left A Job That He Found Me For Half The Amount Of Money. So Anyone Would Think That They're Stupid, That That Would Be A Stupid Move.

I've Always Loved Teaching Acting. I Think It Helps Me To Kind Of Get Back To Basics. It's Like A Refresher Course For Me As Well, So In A Sense, I'm Hopefully Learning As Much As My Students Are - Or At Least Discovering Or Re-discovering As Much As They Are. I Find That When I Teach, I'm Reminded Of My Own Sort Of Failings. I'm Reminded Of Where I Sometimes Keep Going Wrong.

The Worst Thing That An Actor Can Do Is Go Into Any Project With A Lack Of Respect For The Material. You Can Have An Opinion About It, But You Have To Respect Yourself In Doing It.