I think I am more proud of ‘The Hollow Crown’, sorry Tim, than anything I’ve ever done. It’s a great honour to be Hulk-smashed but, really, Henry V is where it’s at. It kinda cost me real blood, and real sweat, and real tears. But they were never shed so gratefully or willingly because Shakespeare’s the reason I became an actor, and as I grow up and grow horns and my tastes change whenever I reconnect to Shakespeare I feel that I am reminded that acting might just be a useful and effective way of spending my time. I have always dreamed of playing Prince Hal and Henry V and to do it in our Olympic summer and on the BBC was just a dream, and I still can’t believe frankly that I was allowed. (X)