Ambition is a very good quality to have. Ambition and the competitive spirit go hand in hand.
I'm not one of those actors who asks for too many favours. So when I do, people tend to listen.
I was a terrible loser growing up. I took it far too seriously. There were water works if I lost. I would go home and break it down in angry detail: How did I lose? What could I do next time?
I really do feel like Los Angeles is my home now and, as cliche as this sounds, I felt like I found myself here and I really know who I am now. There was a long period like I was drifting or floating through life, and now I feel like I have a definitive target - and future.
My mum is about five foot with her hair done. Without it she's about four foot 10.
As actors, we deal with rejection so much more than any other business. So I don't care how much of a genius you are, if you don't have the propensity to be able to get back up every time you get knocked down, then you're not going to survive.
Fortunately, now I've got myself in a position where things are about story and not money. In my earlier career, it was more about getting my foot in the door and to get enough money to live, to be perfectly honest.
Everyone is being told by society to talk this way, to dress that way, to be this person or to be that person, and it's so important to just maintain a sense of self.
I'm very rarely in the gym. My workouts are predominantly outside, in nature.
I've always been relatively reserved with my social encounters.
I've been known to turn up drunk at triathlons and do very well. I'm more of a heat-of-the-moment type of guy. A friend will tell me about something coming up, maybe that weekend, and usually not an abundance of thought goes into my doing it.
There was a time when I wanted to be a lawyer, or even a professional triathlete... But nothing could come close to the passion I have for acting.
I like exploring the mystery of a relationship instead of laying it all out on the table at the beginning.
Even on a $100 million film, people will complain that they haven't got enough money and enough time, so that's always going to be an element in filmmaking.
I'm drawn to a good story, really, as I hope most people are. For me, it's the story that's going to stay with you eventually, not necessarily the genre. I go to watch a film because of the story, not because it was a Western or a comedy.
I don't necessarily find superheroes in general, for me, that appealing. I'd much prefer to play, if I was to be cast in a superhero film, I'd prefer to play the villain because there's a reason, there's a motive behind their madness.
That's something lacking in a lot of modern-day families - just talking. It's almost a lost art form.
I'm not one of those actors who gets physically fit for a role and then loses it all again.
I like to have a hectic schedule.
I make about two movies a year outside the 'True Blood' schedule. I work on a great show six months a year, then outside that I get to satisfy whatever creative urges I have. It's a great position, especially for a single guy like me.
