if it really stands out from the first film, ... if you can just take it on its own and it blows you away with great entertainment.

What I like about Layer Cake is its intelligent through-line. First of all, I think it's very close to the truth; I think this is what successful drug dealers are like. They don't drive around in flashy cars, they don't show off, they behave very quietly, they get on with their job and they earn lots of money. And it goes up and up and up and up the scale. Secondly - and selfishly - I like the moral aspect of the movie, which is that violence has consequences, and you feel emotionally involved with the violence.

Coach came in and evaluated film and moved a couple of guys, ... but he said he liked my aggressiveness, how I kept my pads low and went after the block.

We needed a game like this. We'll see the game film and see what we have to work on. We're going to be working on Labor Day.

I like to work. I enjoy once a year, doing a film. What was hard was when I came to London for ( Proof ) rehearsals, (and) I had to leave her. But it's good for her to see that I work. I'm home all the rest of the time. It doesn't feel sad now.

Being at the centre of a film is a burden one takes on with innocence the first time. Thereafter, you take it on with trepidation.