Actor

I have a very busy personality.

There are lots of times when I'm a very good boyfriend, but there are times when I'm useless. I mean, I'm a mess around the house. I talk nonstop. I become obsessed with things.

I think any actor worth their salt wants to show as much versatility as they possibly can.

There's never enough time to do nothing!

And I'm slightly in love with Scarlett Johansson: she's just stunning. And she's bright, which is incredibly sexy.

I always feel that if you put me in a room with a director and a writer and let me talk about the script, I can give a good account of myself.

I've never been one of the cool people at school, but then again, I don't get the people who are cool. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that they don't interest me.

I'm a huge fan of Brad Pitt. He could have done rom-coms his entire career, but he took it in a different direction.

It's very rare that I get stopped or get asked for an autograph or anything - none of which I mind - but people don't really care that much.

I see myself doing Harry Potter films as long as I'm enjoying it and as long as they are going to challenge me as an actor. I want to be an actor - it's my aspiration - so I want to do other films. I want to write something and I want to direct something!

I have quite a rich inner life, and I'm constantly looking for a way to express that. I haven't found it yet in acting. When you're playing a character, you're only going to find outlets for very specific parts of your inner world.

Shyness displays itself differently in me. I think it's more an awkwardness.

I'm very interested in religion as something to study, but I'm not a religious person in the slightest.

I'm very comfortable discussing my personal life, because it's so boring.

My mom and dad were actors when they were younger and had a horrible experience of it. My dad became a literary agent and my mom a casting director.

When you're in the position I'm in, you have two options: you can either shut yourself off from everybody, from the world, and not live a full life. Or you welcome everybody into your life and occasionally somebody will try to take advantage. And I'd much rather be that person who lets people in.

What I learned is that acting is to a large extent about trying to stave off self-doubt long enough to be natural and real onstage.

My taste in the films I've taken as an actor is similar to what I'd do a director or writer: all quite odd, challenging stuff, slightly off-the-wall.

If I was left to my own devices, you would see about ten T-shirts in rotation with maybe a few nice pairs of jeans - but I also like to look good. I like feeling really well put together, I just don't have the aptitude and the knowledge to do that.

I basically have the diet of a 19th-century Irish navy, apart from the litre of stout a day. It's meat and potatoes and bread and cheese: those are my four food groups.