It was always a dream as I was growing up. I would watch movies, mostly American movies, and be so engrossed in those stories, all I wanted to do was be there. I wanted to be part of that romance or that fantasy or be that warrior or that struggling soul who finally makes it good.

300' was a real turning point in my career. Until then, I felt like a steam train that was slowly chugging to the top of a hill. Now I'm over that hill, my career seems to have its own momentum.

My problem is, whether it's for emotion or for the talents that a character has to have in a role, I find it very difficult to not take on a challenge. For instance, 'Phantom Of The Opera,' in truth, scared the crap out of me, but I wasn't going to walk away and say, 'I didn't do that because I didn't believe in myself.'

I remember when 'Grease' came out, I used to force my mum to try and grease my hair back, and it was never long enough, and literally I'd be screaming at her, 'Do it. Just do it!'.

Dear friends, we may well sing to our Beloved when it is near the time of our departure. It draws near, and as it approaches, we must not dread it, but rather thank God for it.

The thing about romance and romantic movies is that they can be somewhat melodramatic. For a lot of actors, there's a certain cringe factor that's involved with that.

Have you ever heard of a good marriage growing in front of the cameras?

For the longest time, I didn't even want to admit I was serious about music. Before the Shins, I would tell myself, 'Oh, I'm going to figure something out someday.' I had this romantic vision of being this old dude maybe making guitars or something.