"Gangster No.1", "A Knight's Tale", and "A Beautiful Mind" are very different films. What attracts you to a project?

Up until like five seconds ago, I just took what jobs came along. Having said that, you can be a bit of a monkey when you're an actor and stand there going "Ooh, Ooh, Ooh" when you're told to. That's quite dull so I do like doing different things. For instance, I had never done a comedy before "A Knight's Tale".

With that you not only entered a new genre but you did it on the world stage. Did it feel like a fresh start?

Absolutely. It's weird, because usually if you're British and you go to America you play baddies; but I play naughty people here and goodies in America. Because of "Gangster No.1", though, that baddie option's always open - but I can't bring myself to do some dreadful Jerry Bruckheimer movie quite yet.

Brian Helgeland, the director of "A Knight's Tale", was instrumental in your getting a part in "A Beautiful Mind" wasn't he?

Brian took a lot of people into the editing suite - I assume he did it with a gun and violence and forced them to watch – and then I got a phone call asking if I'd like to do "A Beautiful Mind". I met Ron Howard, he was very personable and funny, and then they rang up and said, "Do you want to do it?". It's never, ever, been that easy. And it hasn't been since.

You've just finished filming "The Heart of Me" on the Isle of Man and you're about to work with Lars von Trier. You're not already bored of Hollywood, are you?

I'm scared to use the word but it's just easier to do films that you really care about in Europe. There are more options to do films that have the potential to be really good. At the risk of sounding like a massive arse, there's a purity of intent.