CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON

I love Dead Ringers. A democratic set, the work was taken seriously.

I don't like to watch playback. But being on the set, watching the way the camera is being moved and the way the light is being used, you do get an idea of it.

What goes down on film is different to what you see with the naked eye.

I know exactly where I've come from, I know exactly who my mum and dad are.

I think the themes of belonging and parentage and love are obviously universal.

Theatre is expensive to go to. I certainly felt when I was growing up that theatre wasn't for us. Theatre still has that stigma to it. A lot of people feel intimidated and underrepresented in theatre.

We all need a firm sense of identity.

I've never been up with the times, always been slightly out of step.

Television, although It's in steep decline, still occasionally gives voices to people who don't have voices.

I care more about telly because it made me an actor and there's a much more immediate response to TV. You can address the political or cultural fabric of your country.

I think film and television are really a director's medium, whereas theatre is the actor's medium.

I wasn't always such a great fan of Shakespeare, mind you. I can guess we all at one time had it rammed down our necks at school, which tends to take the edge off it.

My parents always knew I was hopeless at everything else, I was fortunate in that I was backed all the way. I came to it late and only because I thought there'd be loads of women and drinking!

I got a tiny part in a play, auditioned for another one and got that as well. Not only that, the first finished on the Saturday and the other started on the Monday which is like an actor's dream!

Twelve years on sets watching directors, I've taken a bit from everybody and rejected a lot.

The film is about Joe discovering who his mother and father are and his relationship with them, and the identity crisis he goes through once he finds out who his parents are.

Many times I've sat with a camera and another actor and seen all their fears and insecurities and struggles. You want to support them and help them as much as you can.

Any horror element is as much psychological as special effects.

The money is better in films and television. But in terms of acting, theatre is more rewarding.

Rather than disliking theatre, I've expressed a preference for television because it tends to deal in its small way much more with issues and is able to reach a broader church of people than theatre.

It can be very difficult to trace your birth parents.

I had to help to coax the performances and I really enjoyed that extra responsibility.

I love my accent, I thought it was useful in Gone In 60 Seconds because the standard villain is upper class or Cockney. My Northern accent would be an odd clash opposite Nic Cage.

I used my instincts. It's very easy to imagine how you'd feel, actually. I just had to tell the narrative.

On The Others, very atmospheric and probably mysterious is how I would say it felt to be on the set. It felt just a little uneasy, the atmosphere that we were trying to capture.