I did a lot of musicals when I was young and finally went to drama school to try and get away from doing musicals... and of course the first thing that happened when I got out is I got offered a musical. And then when I got to the Royal Shakespeare Company, which was my next job, I ended up doing a bloody musical!

I often think a lot of women's attraction to vampires is based on the fact that vampires come from centuries ago, from eras of chivalry and courtly virtues.

I used to teach kids when I was younger. When I was about 14 or 15 I started teaching children drama and something that I used to say to them was, 'Don't be afraid.' People would be afraid of forgetting their lines or something.

I was a mod when I was a kid. I'd be in Italian pencil-leg trousers with those bowling shoes you wear outside and a Fred Perry polo shirt with a V-neck sweater. It was like an Essex uniform - a very specific look.

I was shocked the first time the paps got me in America - when a video camera is put in your face and you're asked questions and 15 people are walking backwards taking your picture. I was coming out of a pizza shop and had my daughter with me.

I wear lots of Junk de Luxe sweaters, Cult of Individuality jeans - which are about the best for me - and Fiorentini + Baker boots. With fashion I'm good on jeans and boots. Ask me about anything else, and I'll just look at you doe-eyed and not understand what you're talking about.

I'm not a very violent dude, and if something can be settled without any physicality, I'm always in favor of that. But if somebody comes near my kids, the atavistic crazy lion comes out.

I've never been somebody who wanted to read a book and then see it enacted in front of me. When I read 'Harry Potter,' I don't want to then go and see 'Harry Potter' shot frame to frame. I don't understand the point of it. Honestly, I would much rather read the book. If somebody is going to put something in front of me, I want it to be different.

One of the things that I've been trying to do with my characters, one of the things that does lead to me turning things down, is I don't really want to repeat myself.

The interesting thing about 'True Blood' is that its appeal is not contained to teenage girls. I get stopped in the street and questioned by 70-year-old men whose wives and daughters are making Bloody Marys and throwing 'True Blood' parties.

There are lots of procedural shows that I love, but I never really wanted to be a doctor on 'E.R.' - which I'm just picking as an example - or be on a crime procedural.

There is a difference between looking all right in a shirt and taking the shirt off. The older that us dudes get, the more the paunch has to be worked on. It's hard.

I think there are worse things for a teen to be enraptured with than 'Twilight.'

It's so funny when you're actually directing because things start popping that you don't expect to pop, and something that you think is going to pop, maybe doesn't quite have the impetus that you thought it might.

Even if you know that what you'll say will hurt a woman's feelings, I've learned that it's better to be truthful with her than it is to cover up. Ultimate honesty is what a relationship is really about.

Vampires are so old that they don't need to impress anyone anymore. They're comfortable in their own skin. It's this enigmatic strength that's very romantic and old-fashioned. I think it goes back to something of a Victorian attitude of finding a strong man who's going to look after his woman.

Cardio is the devil.

Conflict is drama, and how people deal with conflict shows you the kind of people they are.

HBO Go is a fantastic way to spend your time.

I am lazy.