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In most professions, you build up confidence and a sense of achievement as you go along, but that's really not true for acting.

Some of the greatest actors on the planet are the most insecure people. Now I don't know if that insecurity necessarily equates to a lack of confidence. Some people are just very shy individuals. You give them a character to play and a script, and you put them in front of a camera or on a stage, and they just go.

I lack confidence as an actor.

Sometimes perception is almost more important than the skill level of an actor.

I think naturally, if you're an actor, there's a high level of assertiveness that you need to have to survive this business. There's boldness in being assertive, and there's strength and confidence.

Actors, by nature, are insecure. I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. It is good to question yourself, be self-analytical. You get a better performance if you challenge yourself. If you go around thinking you're great, you're never going to challenge or scare yourself.

I think the writing skills of actors are sometimes underestimated.

A really useful quality to have as an actor is a lack of self-awareness. I try and get into the character's thinking, and some of them just aren't really that bothered about how they come across or aware of how they come across.

Public perception is obviously important to an actor's career.