I'm a working class lad. So at 25, and with no-one in our family having any theatrical inclination, when I said, 'I'm going to scratch all that and become an actor,' I may as well have said I was going to be a Premiership footballer for the chance I'd have.

Working on 'Downton Abbey' is amazing, but there's an ensemble cast of between 18 and 21 actors. With 'Love Life,' there are two couples and a few other key characters. As a smaller unit, you've got to take more responsibility - at the same time, you can have more ownership of the direction it's going in.

If I'd had the choice when I was 14, and someone had said to me, 'You can either be a footballer or an actor,' I'd have said: 'Well, can't I be a footballing actor?'

If you rile a tiger, he's going to show his claws.

My mom and dad put my brother and sister through university and they were very keen for us to have an academic background just to give us a chance.

Beverly Hills is too intimidating. Everyone's got lovely teeth, so you don't want to smile. Everyone's ripped, so you start working out at 4 in the morning and eating egg white omelets.