I don't like broad swords. They're not much fun. A broad sword is just a big chunk of steel, and there's not much finesse in it, not much skill, I don't think anyway.

I like playing guys with swords and the horses and stuff like that.

I left school when I was 16; then I worked for my father, who was a welder. And I was a welder for three years, you know, welder of fabrication, metal 'cause it was a big industrial town, Sheffield. It was much steel and coal and stuff like that.

Jimmy McGovern - I love his writing, and I'm a big fan of him and Alan Clarke.

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 meticulous detail and everybody was so behind it.

They're always intense. I think everything is quite intense and that's the way it should be on things...