I like to cast actors I admire, one's that are talented. Each one will bring something new to the part. This play has been done thousands of times and now certain characters are too familiar.

My definition of success is control.

My dad, for the first 15 years of my career, on every visit he made to a play or a film set, would find the oldest person on set and say, 'Do you think my son has a future?'

I come from the theatre; my bones are in the theatre. It's as natural as breathing to want to be in the theatre.

I had a friend who introduced me to a meditation practice which involves a couple of half-hours a day of meditation, where essentially you try to achieve a stillness that allows you to just be there in the moment.

Life is about making plans from which you deviate, almost always. If you are lucky, you do come up with a plan.

I feel more Irish than English. I feel freer than British, more visceral, with a love of language. Shot through with fire in some way. That's why I resist being appropriated as the current repository of Shakespeare on the planet. That would mean I'm part of the English cultural elite, and I am utterly ill-fitted to be.

Actors are the best and the worst of people. They're like kids. When they're good, they're very very good. When they're bad they're very very naughty.

To look out of a car in Scania, you see a painting on the horizontal - one windmill, one tiny farmhouse, acres of beet or grass.

I'll tell you what I'm grateful for, and that's the clarity of understanding that the most important things in life are health, family and friends, and the time to spend on them.

Friendship is one of the most tangible things in a world which offers fewer and fewer supports.

I am very much looking forward to new adventures - including, I hope, Broadway - sooner rather than later.

Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, laugh more, and don't get so worked up about things.

My experience of dancing is exclusively at weddings or parties with alcohol involved and in the dark.

As an actor I can bring the story, the narrative in each performance. If I can't do that, then… might as well give up as an actor, hadn't I?

I've had women telling me I'm bloody gorgeous but I haven't had any kinky pictures. Everything's been quite tame - from the women!

If someone stops me in the street, they might not want to say something to my face - maybe something about 'Emmerdale' or something personal towards me, good or bad. But on Twitter they are hiding behind their keyboard.

I'm not easily offended so whether it be a compliment or a derogatory comment, it really doesn't bother me.

Most of my saucy comments are from gay guys. Some of them are pretty explicit in the things they say, especially on Twitter.

Those who know me, after a few beers, I love music and I love to dance, but that doesn't mean I'll be any good!

As for cooking, I like making lasagne and spaghetti Bolognese, I have perfected my porridge, and I like making Sunday roasts.

I am a bit of a domestic goddess to be honest. I am a clean freak so I love doing the hoovering and the cleaning.

I have plans to send my little daughter and son into dancing because I'd love for them to enjoy it too.

I train and keep in shape. It's quite vain.