To Be Challenged Means To

I Think I Went Through Early Years Of My Career Sort Of Thinking, "well, Maybe I'm Just Not British Enough." And I Always Remember My Father Saying To Me, "don't Think You're English, Because However English You Feel, Some Englishman Is Going To Remind You That You're Not." Now, For Him It Must Have Been A Much More Acute Experience, Because He Immigrated To England. I Was Born There, So I Kind Of Felt I Had The Right To Assume That I Was British, But It's True. The English Are A Very Warm And Welcoming People, But There's A Streak In There That Reminds You, Occasionally.

To Be Challenged Means To Strive. I'm Almost Certain That's True.

And I Think It's Because Good Cons Are All Based On The Victim's Need, And The Successful Con Artist Is The One, I Guess, Who Can Exploit That. I Remember Reading Something About This, That One Of The Great Traits Of Confidence Tricksters Is The Level That They Flatter Their Victim.

Playing Villains Is Very Liberating Because Unlike The Leading Man, Nothing Is Expected Of You. Leading Men Have To Look Good, They Have To Behave In A Certain Way, They Have To Fulfill An Audience's Expectations. But As A Bad Guy, You Have Free License To Take The Audience By Surprise. And That's What Audiences Want - They Want Unpredictability From Their Villains. The Villain's Job Is To Subvert It.

I've Worked With Actors Who Treat The First Two Takes Like Rehearsals. And That's Okay. If The Camera Is On You And We're Doing A Scene Where I'm Off Camera, I'm Treating That As A Rehearsal.