I loved 'Lord of the Rings,' growing up, so I always wanted to play a wizard with a staff.

I was always goofing around. I suppose having a father who was an actor made you think that it was a real possibility as a career.

Film acting is so different from theatre acting, and TV is about letting things pay off and not winning every scene.

There's a lot of Irish in London and have been for years - they're very much a part of the city.

But I look at failure as education. In that respect, I am so well-educated.

I have to have three or four books going simultaneously. If I'm not impressed in the first 20 pages, I don't bother reading the rest, especially with novels. I'm not a book-club style reader. I'm not looking for life lessons or wanting people to think I'm smart because I'm reading a certain book.

I think my best teacher and my best study was theater in general. It taught me a lot of patience and a lot of hard work, and I think that theater teaches you that you've got to know your stuff because you only get one chance.

In Philly, there are a lot of social programs. If you have a degree, you can go and apply. I was basically a social worker, but I became sort of a sub teacher in a special program, helping kids with reading or math. But we would also do plays, learn about music... We were doing lots of fun stuff, but that was such hard work.