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I think actors always find the dialogue doesn't quite fit, so you always have to play with it.

I need to react to a script, to feel strongly about it in some way. And I need it to be a complex character for sure. And also, I think a lot about what kind of audience there is for the film, what they're looking for and ways to connect with them in the playing of a character.

When I take on a role, all I tend to do is get to know the script and ask millions of questions, and keep fine tuning what I think the character is trying to say.

There is such a thing as my kind of actor, and how well they pull off my dialogue is a very, very important part of it.

Robert De Niro taught me how to listen, and how to be part of the conversation. It's not just about reading your lines and saying what's in the script; you have to understand your character, along with the other characters so that you can always respond.

A script narration is like watching a film, and I react to it like an audience with my own instinct. After that, I look for what is my character, what will I bring to the table in that role, how challenging will it be.

I come from a tradition where the writer writes a play for the actors, rather than for himself, and the dialogue is made to work onstage, so it needs actors to help shape it. So you never get a play right straightaway.

Whether I'm writing the script, or someone else writes the initial draft, I'm always an actor's director first. I always try to listen to them a lot and try to put their voices into their character.

For me, my first hearing of the script matters. It has to excite me as an actor and as an audience.

I never practice before, I never work hours on a script. I just choose my characters and trust them, and after that, it's about the director taking your hand.