People look at me, they know I've appeared in costume dramas and they automatically assume I must be a Tory, I must be a certain type of person.

All my early school reports from the age of 5 were ‘Daniel must learn not to distract others.’

I haven’t done as many films as I would have liked.

I don’t know much about my biological background.

It’s the challenge of trying to evoke any kind of sympathy for a role that ordinarily we would say, “Oh, this is a bad guy” and dismiss him.

I’m sure I wouldn’t have been asked to judge the Man Booker if it weren’t for ‘Downton.’

You do feel a certain obligation to shows that raise your profile like ‘Downton’ has. But there are definitely other exciting opportunities out there.

I’ve never been a fan of directors who clutter a piece with all sorts of crazy preconceptions or weird ideas.

I do listen to a lot of music. Actually, I very often ask directors if they can offer up a play list. They very often have one anyway that they’re listening to.

It’s great when somebody is able to communicate an actual shot sequence to you and you know the world you’re inhabiting with that. It’s literally a haunting tune.