Quotes

Then when they [children] get bigger, you're thinking: 'Now I have to create a good person - a proper human being.' And, seriously, the responsibility of that isn't lost on me.

People my age and younger are obsessed by the way that they and everyone else looks. I find it sad and I find it misogynistic, for example, that brilliant actresses are now expected to parade their physical assets and show their lithe bodies on the red carpet and be judged accordingly. It makes me want to stay at home.

As a man, the most important thing my dad taught me was to be kind and as an actor - aside from the masterclass I got from watching him shouting at the telly when I was growing up - it was to work hard and to always give an honest performance. When I analyse what people love about my dad, it's to do with that honesty and a kind of humility. He's like Andrew Flintoff - who, despite his brilliance, looks like he just pitched up from the pub. My dad has that, too. He looks like a bloke who'd deliver your fridge, but he somehow epitomises England. When he performs, people see his warmth and his sympathy and his goodness shining through. And that is something I aspire to.

My mum and dad believe in ghosts and I grew up in a deeply superstitious house. My mum even did part of her PhD on spiritualism in the Victorian era. It was interesting to talk to her about Harry [Price] and both my parents had certainly heard of him. But it didn't change my opinion that, basically, clairvoyants are all charlatans

[on his weight loss] I had to dedicate every aspect of my existence to the way I looked. And it was awful. I don't know who it's for or who enjoys it because, when I did it, I didn't enjoy it, and my wife didn't enjoy it either. She didn't find it attractive at all.

When I hear women say, 'Oh, I'm just a mum', I think: 'No, you are not just a mum. You're doing the most important job in the world. And you do it for no immediate reward, no pay, no real recognition or thanks and it's really, really, hard'.

But the truth is that being a parent is all I've ever really wanted. Put simply, what else is there? Basically, I love having dependants and I love the feeling of providing. It's what I've always felt that I'm here for.

But, unlike me, Aidan Turner - who played Poldark and happens to be a very good friend of mine - looks that way naturally, without having to do the work. He was a dancer before and those looks are in his genes, too. He also happens to be a great actor, so it's a bit demeaning when a million people go online to see him without his shirt on. It's an aspect of the business that I'm not comfortable with.

Being with someone you love when they're having your baby is life-changing. It's scary, but it's also totally life affirming. There's no greater experience that I'm, personally, ever likely to have. And, fortunately, I know it.