Biografie

Usually plays mild-mannered characters in extraordinary circumstances

Wide range of expressions and reaction shots

Often plays characters from literary fiction (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Sherlock, The Hobbit)

Distinctive clipped, deliberate delivery of lines

Reserved performances that often feature one or more extremely vocal outbursts

Why does everyone have to pretend to be stupid and not know long words?

God, no. I don't do any of that shit [partying with celebrities]. I've got a stag weekend coming up and I've said I'm not doing anything more than a few drinks. I won't have it. I'll go home and watch Antiques Roadshow (1997).

If I could get bands to come and play in my house, I'd like that. I've never been to a festival. I'm a creature of habit, mashed-potato comfort, I like rugs. Our sofa's squishy. Maybe too squishy - it's hard to get up sometimes.

Most people have a passive relationship with music and clothes, with culture. But music was my first contact with anything creative. Music is it, as far as I'm concerned.

Some people have that roar in their head, but I'm not sure I ever did. That live-fast-die-young thing. No one wants it really - Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin - it's not good. I want to live with Amanda till I'm 70. I was never the kid that went all the way with naughtiness, never got caned or in serious trouble. I always knew when to pull back.