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I played Romeo when I was younger, and I think I did a couple kind Romeo-like parts after that, and I kind of went, 'I mustn't do this again. I must always choose something that I don't know if I'm a good enough actor to play.'

I started off as an actor thinking that I would be this Romeo, this dashing leading man. It turns out that I'm a character actor.

After drama school I did a seven-month tour of Europe performing in 'Romeo and Juliet.' I played Romeo.

When I was prepping for my Broadway debut as Romeo, it really hit me that I had never done that. I had trained at drama school for three years in my late teens to early 20s, and I'd studied Shakespeare, of course, but I hadn't actually performed it. So to do something like Romeo for my first Broadway role was a challenge.

I did a crazy version of 'Romeo and Juliet' once, and I played Romeo.

I look in the mirror and say to myself, Can it be you once played Romeo?

I never thought I'd be right to play a Juliet-like character.

Romeo Must Die was the first film that I did where I was able to just be free as an actor.

I stopped acting because I had other passions I wanted to pursue.

I thought theater people wouldn't see me if I hadn't trained. I didn't want to just be the Brideshead guy, to spend the rest of my life wearing waistcoats. I got the chance to try everything. Not just Romeos, but pimps and grandfathers and even one role as a woman in a Naomi Wallace play called Slaughter City.