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In the beginning, when you're acting in amateur theater and off-Broadway, it was unheard of that anyone else would get your costume. And it was important to get a good costume. You put time into that.

A film is a great deal about what you see, and the silhouette of a character tells you a lot. I'd love to go into film costume.

There's so many interesting aspects of making a movie: the costume department, the set design, the casting itself, the locations.

Costume is a huge part of getting into character. Your body soaks in what you're wearing, and you turn into someone else.

I design for the movie and the character as well as the person wearing the costume. I show the ideas to the actor, then do fittings for shape and technical things such as movement in the costume. Once the costume in this form is on the actor, you have a sense of their connection with it. I then take it to the next level with the final fit.

It's always fun messing around with costumes and stuff. You know there is an element of acting that you've got to dress-up; that's part of it.

The right costume determines the character, helps the actor feel who he is, and serves the story.

I'm very much into the costuming of any character that I portray and it's one of the great things about making movies is it's a collaborative art form so you get all these artists who are looking specifically about for this instance your character's costume and what that might tell about your character.

The film is a direct mirror of the director. If your director doesn't know how to dress, there will be an aesthetic of the film that won't come through - whether it's in the costumes if he doesn't know exactly what he wants or the look of the film.

And costume is so important for an actor. It absolutely helps to get into character; it's the closest thing to you, it touches you. Some actors like to go into make-up and then put their clothes on, but I like to dress first; that's my routine.