There's nothing so unattractive as vanity... particularly male vanity.

As an actor, you try and be cool, but one of the reasons you become an actor is because you’re a film fan. And then you’re like, ‘Oh my God, Ridley Scott just spoke to me!’

My dad’s one of the funniest men in the world. I grew up with him making me laugh so much I’d beg him to stop.

If you’re a casting director, you’re going to be curious to see what Timothy Spall’s son is like. But when you get in the door, you have to have something to offer.

My mum and dad have always enjoyed life, and it’s something that’s been instilled in me. I wake up in a good mood most mornings.

I’ve done loads of things people have never seen – dramas on BBC4 and plays upstairs at the Royal Court and the Bush – and because I didn’t go to drama school, they gave me an education.

For a man, there’s a big responsibility that comes with having a boy because men are made by their fathers. If you’ve got a good productive man around it’s better. I have such a close relationship with my dad and that responsibility to produce a good man is something I think about.

I’m sure that my father becoming seriously ill when I was 14 had a lot to do with my going from chubby to fat.

Doing ‘Prometheus’ was what you imagine being an actor is like when you’re five. In a spacesuit, on another planet, getting killed by an alien. It was a real treat; it felt like being a part of movie history.

My biggest ambition over everything is to have kids. It feels great. I’d love a big family.