What sets the best actors apart? 
They don’t have an ordinary, everyday life – which is why they probably congregate together. It’s less impressive for Tom Hanks [who directed Band Of Brothers] to sit around with Steven Spielberg [who produced it], as they are both great men in their own right. When I’m with Tom, it does seem different, but you get over that. In this industry it doesn’t matter who you are today because tomorrow you could be someone different. There was a guy in BoB called Tom Hardy who did one episode. The rest of us had been filming for nine months and we were a bit: ‘We’ll show you the ropes.’ Now Tom Hardy is playing the lead in the new Star Trek movie. You get to realise that being snooty is not the way forward and careers can quickly reverse. People like Tom Hanks have learnt that lesson – if you’re working with him, that’s the bottom line.

Dexter Fletcher from Metro.

With a cast like that, if [Lawless] turned out bad, we really would have screwed up somehow. Hardy is one of the most naturally gifted actors. It was incredible how he could turn it on and off. Literally, he’d be playing Scrabble and then get up and deliver a really motive speech and you’re like ‘holy shit, how did you do that after using all seven of your letters’.

Dane Deehan from GQ.