Douglas Hodge

The only way I survived at school was by doing impersonations of teachers and pupils. That led to me winning a talent competition when I was 16; the prize was three or four gigs in working men's clubs. I was just showing off: at the time, I thought that's what acting was. ”

The next Bond ought to be a woman or, at least, a black actor. ”

I'm always being introduced as 'Tony Award-winning Douglas Hodge.' It's extraordinary. ”

The review I've been most offended by came when I played Hamlet. I'd always prided myself on being an 'invisible actor' and not getting in the way of the play. But this review didn't mention me once. That's worse than being insulted. ”

It's pretty hard to play 'Romeo and Juliet' with someone and not fall in love. ”

I love filming in London. In New York, every street is familiar because you have seen it in a movie. They mythologise their own city. You're forever trying to get down streets that have been blocked off because of shooting. In London, they don't put up with it; they're grumpy. ”

In England, I've had a more balanced career directing and acting. It can be quite difficult to juggle the two careers. ”

Bowie has been in my mind as someone who disappeared from the public for a long time and then emerged. A strange, exotic creature - he seems to inherit a tradition of enigma and exclusiveness. ”

I'm very prescriptive about my routine. Almost nothing changes: I have the same meal - pasta with Bolognese sauce - between shows; the person who dresses me stands on the same side every time; I take the same route to the stage. I'm very OCD about these things, as most actors are. ”

In our culture, good looks are so important, and today he'd head straight for a plastic surgeon, but in Cyrano's time, the nose was who he was, and it didn't matter that he was a brilliant poet, a brilliant swordsman, a brilliant man. His nose defined him. ”