At eight o'clock the curtain goes up and that's it, you're out there with yourself, the audience, the other players. There's no "take two" business. You're on. The great thing is the rehearsals, too. When you're bouncing around on film sets and TV sets you don't really get the opportunity to - generally speaking - rehearse much. With theater you're kind of four-to-five weeks locked down in the room with the guys figuring stuff out. It's back to play school.

I like working, I'm not into relaxing. Work motivates me, and even when I do take a holiday, I meet friends, talk about projects and set up meetings, set meetings between other people, or get involved.

There's nothing like an opening night or like the curtain going up and having a full house, but also having weeks and weeks to work with your director and cast members and try to crack the play. It's great.

A good trick I learnt early on is not to immediately look at playback because once you know the shot, you can see when the camera is on you. It's best to stay 'in it' all the time, and just if it's on you, it's on you, and if it's not, it's not. It's the easiest way.

In 'The Hobbit,' there were British, Irish, Australian and New Zealand actors, and Peter Jackson was adamant that we would all sound like we were from Britain somewhere.

I'm not an extravagant person. You don't get a chance to spend money when you're working on a TV show.

I left the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin in 2004, and I did five years of theater after that.

I want to spend the night alone in a haunted mansion. I wouldn't say I'm sceptical because that word implies the truth is out there when there is no truth out there.

When you're part of an ensemble and share the screen with so many people, you become close to them because you're hanging out all the time. Obviously you have your ups and downs, but that kind of brings you closer in many ways.

To make a career as an Irish actor, generally it's the case that you move to London. When you make that move, you do tend to stand out.