It was such an interesting character and the film really explored his friendship with Bond and how it all went wrong, so it was a very personal journ….

To be honest, you have to do a big Hollywood film to get enough money to do a good independent film!.

I like to keep myself in shape. I run and do weights when I go to the gym..

You only have to pick up a paper to see the sort of scams and injustices that are out there. There's a sense that people don't belong and just aren't….

I sort of leave the character at the end of the day. I don't carry anything around with me - no excess baggage or unnecessary thoughts. I think it's ….

Sharpe is my favorite role of all that I've played. He's a very complex character. He knows that he's a good soldier, but he will always have to figh….

If you have a very good concept of your character, you can snap into it..

Every actor wants to find a piece of work that's innovative and powerful and moving..

There's a wealth of literature out there which, hopefully, will be, you know, exploded in the future, and I personally find it very rewarding to be i….

I think everybody's got different methods of working which suit the particular individual. Mine is to sort of play the part, and give 100%, to concen….

A common misperception of me is... that I am a tough, rough northerner, which I suppose I am really. But I'm pretty mild-mannered most of the time. I….

I always prefer to work intensively on something and then move on to something else. I prefer not to get stuck in something that takes five or six ye….

Lord of the Rings was something I always wanted to do. I read the book when I was about 25, and I was always hoping if it was ever made into a featur….

I go to see my kids in school plays, ... I watched Lorna in a concert at the Westminster College of Music the other day and it was amazing. I felt ve….

I'd been trying for a while to get parts that weren't just the English bad guy, so it was quite refreshing to be playing someone who was a compassion….

Listen to people and treat people as you find them. There's an inherent goodness in most people. Don't pre-judge people - that was me Mam's advice ….

My family thought the fascination with acting was just another fad..

I put quite a few trees in last autumn. A lot of silver birch and a couple of native trees - just generally doing gardening, putting plants in and he….

I'm proud of Lord of the Rings. I think it's a once in a lifetime role, and a once in a lifetime film. It was made with so much care and passion and ….

I had no intention of being an actor. I was quite good at it. I was pretty capable at other things but never any good at anything..

Lord of the Rings was just so much enjoyment. It was over about the space of a year that I was filming. It's one of the most enjoyable things I've ev….