Describe your ideal hour?
A beautiful morning, a bounce on the trampoline with my kids, a family walk over Hampstead Heath and a nice meal. As you get older, time goes more quickly than when you were a young buck and the simple things are precious.
If you could live in any era, which would it be?
The 40s in New York, when the city was at the height of its power but still grungy, dirty and dangerous around the edges. You had the explosion of the new wave of jazz, the food was good – but not pretentious – and people were living in the moment.
Which period of your life do you daydream about the most?
Being in the womb. Before all the mistakes had been made.
If you could spend an hour with anyone famous, who would you choose?
Jimi Hendrix. His life was short but fruitful, and he was a genius.
When was the last time you stole something?
As a teenager I accidentally walked out of Tesco with a full shop without paying for it. I realised what had happened when I was unloading it into the car, and with my fucking 16-year-old guilty conscience, I went back and paid for it. I should have thought: “Fuck Tesco, fuck the system,” and driven off. Now, I try to nick something once a day, even if it’s a paper cup.
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When was the last time you cried?
Disappointingly for my emotional evolution, it was probably on camera, as part of work. I find it much easier to cry in character than in person – which says something about me.
When was the last time you had sex?
Jesus. I don’t kiss and tell, my friend. This morning.
When was the last time you checked social media?
I had a Facebook page at the dawn of social media when I was 19 and at university – the same age as Zuckerberg when he started it – but I found it stressful even then and got rid of it after a year. I haven’t been on any of them since then.
What do you never have enough time for?
Reading. I used to do it a lot, but it falls by the wayside now and I find that depressing.
When was the last time someone mistook you for somebody else?
It happens a good deal. Last time it was for Billy Zane.
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself?
Don’t take anything too seriously because the only things that matter are being a vaguely decent person – if that can be possible within the bounds of some semblance of morality. Everything else is fairly transient. When you’re young, you worry that every decision has seismic ramifications in your life and other people’s, but things change in a heartbeat.