There is nothing better than playing a bad girl for two months, then turning around and playing someone sweet. Films give you this opportunity.
Loving movies myself, I know when I see a film with someone with a strong persona, it's hard to overlay another character on top of that.
It's really wonderful to play characters as different from each other as I can.
Saying good-bye on 'Nurse Jackie' was a really big deal, so I'm sure I was keeping myself guarded from ever having to feel anything like that again on another job, especially a death scene.
I think playing a negative character is more difficult and challenging, since you have a lot to work on, and you have to put a lot of efforts.
Playing Elizabeth Taylor was probably the hardest job I've ever done.
I would love to play a negative guy, play the villain. It is always interesting to have shades to your character.
Even if I play a similar role to one I've played before, I will never play it the same, I'll always try to do something different with it.
Everybody tells me to only do action films, but I would love to do horror, too.
In my movie work, if I do one guy, the next guy I do, I want to do something kind of different. Even in terms of genre - it's really great to mix it up a little.
I did my first movie, 'The Mambo Kings,' in America without speaking the language. I learned the lines phonetically. I had an interpreter actually just to understand directions from my director.
Each character has their own challenges. The challenge to doing one scene is your whole history of who you are and your relationships, you only have this one shot.
I've never done this level of physical preparation for something. Particularly for 'Rogue One' where I was training every day and doing kung fu rehearsals on a daily basis. But that's part of the reason I wanted to do it, because it was very different from what I've done before.
I was thrust, excitingly, via 'Elizabeth' and 'Shakespeare in Love,' into a position one can only dream of, but it was startling, too. I was offered a multitude of roles riding horses in flouncy shirts, and I just thought, 'Hang on, I've just done that. What next?'
I will be seen as a software engineer in 'Betaludu.' My character is totally different from what I have played in the past.
It's daunting to play a real living person.
We have a wonderful film lined up early next year called 'Desi Magic.' It showcases me in a double role for the first time. This movie has offered me the most challenging role of my career so far. It's weird I chose to do my toughest film with my own production house.
I didn't have to do too much "research" or acting to play this guy. (laughs) It is actually very difficult to manage all the time. The Community schedule is crushing and it kills me because I don't get to be with my family as much as I'd like.
Even if one is not a great actor, just being in front of the camera requires a lot of effort.
I love the challenge of an entire year has gone by and how has that affected the character you're playing.
I think it's sort of a rite of passage for a British actor to try and get the American accent and have a good crack at doing that.
It's an amazing role for any actor, so deep and challenging. And Anne Frank was such an amazing person, I feel honored to portray her.
A while ago, I did a television adaptation of 'Bleak House,' and the character I played, as far as I was concerned, had no redeeming features whatsoever. I wasn't about to try to find any; I didn't need to.
I think being a guest star on an ongoing TV show can be a nightmare, and I've done it a lot. You're walking into this family who's very comfortable where they are, and you have to jump on the train and be artificially comfortable. That's a very hard thing to do.
There's nothing wrong with doing comedies, and I'm not against comedies, either, but I always want to do stuff that keeps me off my guard and gets me out of my comfort zone.
