DAVID MORRISSEY

All actors think every job will be their last.

I'm the youngest of four kids. There's something in me that will always be the youngest child, will always look up to people when they don't necessarily need it.

The reason I wanted to start directing is that as an actor I felt I came into a job late. There's a whole team of people who have been working on it for months before you start. You have this really intense period of filming and then you leave it, knowing that the director will work on it for another few months.

It takes a long time to drag myself out of bed, and at night I'm buzzing. As a young man it was helpful, but now I'd like to be tired when I go to bed and alive in the morning.

Liverpool has always made me brave, choice-wise. It was never a city that criticised anyone for taking a chance.

I'm a massive fan of Brit Art in general and Damien Hirst in particular. I think he's an absolute genius and should be celebrated in every way.

I've moved into directing as well as acting, and it has taught me never to take casting personally.

My son got me into 'The Mighty Boosh.' I just love that surrealist humour.

Nothing is my guiltiest pleasure. I love it. I love doing it. I love planning to do it, I love loafing and pottering and chilling and daydreaming.

'Evil' is quite a blanket term. People aren't the demonic characters we would like them to be sometimes.

My house is very clean apart from a very small part of it that looks as if we've been burgled, which is my office.

You want people to identify with the person on the screen or in the theater, but you don't want them to identify with you as a person.

I love telling stories. I like the challenges presented to me on a daily basis. There's nothing resting about acting.

We have one life and we should cherish it and make it the best we can.

I couldn't think of anything worse than going to a fancy dress party. So, if somebody invited me to one, I'd go as the Invisible Man and not turn up.

When I told my parents I wanted to be an actor, it was like saying I wanted to be an astronaut. Not because it was highfalutin' in any way - just because they didn't know anybody in that field. They were anxious of a profession they knew nothing about.

I always have to go out to work even if it's just a desk somewhere or an office or the British Library.

I think the corruption of power is very interesting, and I think the idea that power is something that... You know, when people want power, they're a certain individual. When people acquire power by accident, they're different again.

As a director, your work is finished only when it's on the screen. But I will always be an actor who occasionally directs. And no, I have no interest in directing myself. I wouldn't be able to concentrate on both jobs at once.

I've got a great family and a beautiful house. I feel very lucky as far as my lifestyle is concerned. I'm not really interested in fame and all its trappings.

In all honesty, we all want our fantasy selves to be the best people. We all think in a time of crisis, we will react heroically and with humanity.

I love getting stuff, and if I give a present to someone and don't get one back, you can bet your life they won't be getting one next year.

I owe my mum a sense of family. She has kept our family together. I have two brothers and a sister, and they all live a stone's throw away from each other in Liverpool.

The great thing about coming from where I come from - Liverpool and my family - is that we're very close. I have a great relationship with my siblings and their kids.

I like to act because I can forget about everything else.