You Know What? Joy Is The Only

It Takes Years To Establish Yourself, And Then You Have One Big Film And Everyone Calls You An Overnight Success. You Think, 'christ, I've Been Sweating And Crying For Seven Years.'.

It All Felt Like A Terribly Long Time. It Would Have Meant That I Had To Make Five Movies In Five Years And If You Don't Like The Movies, Too Bad. I Guess I Just Wanted My Freedom, And I Think My Life Has Been Incredibly Enhanced As A Result.

A Large Part Of How An Actor Works And Their Process Is The Stimulation Of What's Around You, And None More So Than In A Period Piece. This Is A Modern Piece, As Much As It Is Set In A Different Time, Age And Myth. If It Wasn't Relevant, It Wouldn't Have Been Made And We Wouldn't Be Putting Our Energy Into It. It's Relevant For Us Today Because, In Some Ways, It Throws Up A Mirror To All Of Us. As An Actor, You Get Stimulus And You're Effected By That, Whether It's Costumes Or Funny Beards Or Castles.

So Getting That Balance Between What Is Honoring Scripture And The Word And Also Acknowledging The Fact That By The Virtue Of Putting It On Film There's Going To Be A Variation And Adaptation, I Mean, It's A Fine Dance And A Balance. Our Producers And Directors Have Worked So Hard To Get That Right And I'm Really Proud. I Think It's A Pretty Good Job.

I Read As Much As I Could, But Really Just Spoke To Chris Chibnall And Asked All The Pertinent Questions. That Made Me Feel Like We Weren't Going To Do An Off-the-peg Camelot, Which Has Been Touched Upon In Many Films And Tv Series Before. I Really Just Picked His Brain And, In Doing So, I Got Fired Up By Tackling Merlin In A Fresher Angle.