Lennie James

When I was growing up and watching 'The Sweeney,' the notion of police officers being an inch away from the villains that they're chasing was commonplace.

The State Within' demands a certain intelligence from its audience. It doesn't just wash over you - it asks for commitment. And that's a really good thing.

I'd really like to go Sydney. I've been to Australia a few times, but I have never been there.

I'm not setting 'Jericho' up to be anything other than what it is, which is, you know, a piece of good, well thought-out, well put-together TV and entertainment.

I don't usually like talking about acting or what my process is, and all those kinds of things, because I don't necessarily think it's helpful to talk about how I do my job.

My foster mother wanted to create a family home. For me, she had made a place that I felt I could always go back to, and that was what she was trying to do for these kids.

In the kids' home I was in, there was very little change of staff. People stuck around, and they stuck around because they were being paid enough to stay there and raise their families. If you're not supporting the people looking after the kids, you're not supporting the kids, and you might as well chuck them all in the bin.

When I'm playing an American, I don't play Lennie with an American accent. They're American characters who look like me, but they have different voices.

Doors being closed or made harder to open is something I'm very familiar with - and I don't like it.

I did a film once in the Sahara. It was pretty awe-inspiring. I remember sitting up on the roof of our hotel, watching the sun go down, and all around me, for 360 degrees, was nothing but sand. It took your breath away but also made you feel tiny.

I particular enjoy the crime writer, Walter Ellis Mosley. He does a series of Chandler-esque detective stories.

One of the things I learnt over the years is that there is a craft to writing, like there is a craft to acting. I hadn't done my apprenticeship as a writer. I did try to be a writer for hire but I'm not any good at it.