If you are at a boys' school, especially, there is a level of bravado that you have to keep up otherwise you'll get picked on.

The dream is to keep surprising yourself, never mind the audience.

Actors do tend to get pigeonholed. People want to know who you are so they can put you in a box. It's lovely to be known for such diametrically opposite roles.

When people don't like themselves very much, they have to make up for it. The classic bully was actually a victim first.

Obviously, given the level of his dissatisfaction, you would think they would have picked up on it and maybe done something constructive with it,

I did a production of 'Journey's End,' an RC Sherriff play about World War I, at the Edinburgh Festival. I was 18 and it was the first time that people I knew and loved and respected came up to me after the show and said, 'You know, you could really do this if you wanted to.'