It wasn't the greatest script in the world, but not many people can say they've played a wicked king in a swashbuckling Arthurian special-effects monster movie.
I met the Coens here a few years ago and they said they liked my work.
I'd only read a bit of the first book. And I just knew about all the media furor over it. But I'd not read books 2 or 3. I'd just read a bit of it. And I'd seen the films.
I was still listening to the Beatles until I came here, you know.
When you do something well, this is the best job in the world.
I'd had a relationship with a French girl, a Japanese girl, an American girl, a Filippina and she was there all the time - a Lancashire girl. I thought: 'It's a Lancashire girl I was looking for. Why didn't I realize it?'
I'd been a stepparent for about two years with a woman who had a child, and I came to realize I adored children and was good with them. So I was very happy when Anna got pregnant.
The making of 'Naked' was an absolutely phenomenal, mind-bending experience. That film was life-changing and put my career onto a whole different level.
It wasn't a good idea to work on 'Naked' in the first months of a marriage. I was living apart from my wife in a flat overflowing with books I was reading for the part.
I'm not one of those people who's against doing remakes.
I'm often cast as religious figures, good and bad, such as 'Kingdom Of Heaven.'
In 'Seven Years In Tibet,' I played a Buddhist. But I'm not religious at all, really.
Publishing a novel was such a proud thing for me. When I was a kid, I used to say to my mum and dad, 'I'm going to write a book. You'll see.' So when I did ,and it was published, and people liked it, it was great.
I've been offered TV things over the years, but usually, that's about that I don't want to be away from home for that long, because it's a long time to be away your home country and my family.
I am the sort of guy who does go to modern art shows.
I paint a bit myself. My house in Clerkenwell has a room that is done up like a big installation.
I could, of course, have written about the film world and the jealousy there and the frequent belief that others don't have talent. But, for some reason, it just struck me to write about art.
No matter what one looks at and finds temporarily pleasing, it can never be as beautiful as just a tree, really.
We didn't need the Internet for Nazi Germany to happen. But I feel like there's this lack of humanity because of it.
The world is enormously dangerous and scary. I worry very much for my daughter. I'm not sure we're in control any more, and I think the Internet is partly responsible for that.
