My relationship with my belief has never been easy.

I think I'm less gloomy than I used to be - I've got a very supportive other half.

I know very few people who have literally improvised a film from start to finish.

There was very little drama and performance at my school, so I've never forgotten the people who did encourage me and I've thought whether it would be a good idea to even get in touch with them and just say thanks, because they really opened a door for me mentally and emotionally - that's really important.

Actors are people who are doing a job they want to do, which isn't the case for many of the people who watch what we do.

As soon as you get two actors in a room and they're locking eyes, they're doing a scene.

Fans want to see a story with characters, and they want to see a story.

I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I keep forgetting to think of 'Charles II' as a costume drama.

It's a funny thing, 'The Office,' because millions and millions and millions and millions of people didn't watch it. But culturally, it is more of a phenomenon than almost anything else I can remember as far as British television is concerned.

I read 'Animal Farm' when I was 11, and it remained my favorite book, really.

Humour is - how do I say this without sounding pompous - it's a huge part of my life.

I value being able to go into a record shop and people leaving me alone.

True heroics, obviously, is not the absence of fear, but having that fear and doing something anyway.

In my life, the strongest evidence of any fandom is 'Sherlock' - 'Hobbit' fans are positively restrained.

You don't want your children to look at you like you are anything special other than their dad.

Rehearsals are one of my favourite things in the world.

I've tried not to treat Shakespeare as a marble giant.

It's more fun playing someone who isn't just a bad guy.

Please God, I'll never be in a war zone, but everything I sort of know about people who come back is that it's a hard transition to make. I mean, even if you've not been in a war, even if you've just been in the Forces, you come back and probably have more fights in civilian life.

Although there's an inherent light-heartedness to 'Sherlock,' I slightly err towards not doing the comedy.

I hate the fact that so much of our life is computerised rather than mechanised.

I buy DVDs. I don't really buy CDs unless they're for other people.

I like out, I like the outside world.

I love home. I'd rather be at home than anywhere else.