The actor loves The Magnificent Seven, Steve Coogan and driving around New York, but despises DIY shows.
Books
I have Stalingrad by Antony Beever on the go at the moment. I am an amateur student of the Second World war. I find it fascinating. There was an old soldiers' home near my school in Glasgow and we would put a review on for them at Christmas, then spend an afternoon with them. I sat next to this man and he started telling me about the Battle of the Somme during the First World War. The first bullet hit his water bottle and spun him around, then the second hit him in the chest. He was patched up and three weeks later sent to Ypres. He was only 16-the same age as I was when I met him-and it had a profound effect on me. I thought of the world that was available to me and about him in a trench. It was very humbling.
Sebastion Faulk's Birdsong is also a fantastic book and it helped me to survive while making Kull The Conqueror ( 1997), probably the worst film in the history of cinema.
Films
I was introduced to films by my parents. I remember telling them how much I loved The Magnificent Seven and my Ma said: "Yes, but have you seen the original version, The Seven Samurai?"
They had seen it by mistake when they were dating, and so it was through them that I discovered Kurosawa. Some Like It Hot is my favourite comedy. I could quote the script to you verbatim.
Television
I have caused arguments by leaving places early to get home to watch The Antiques Roadshow with Eric Knowles. Don't ask me why I like it so much. It is comfort television, I suppose. I also love Steve Coogan- I think Alan Partridge is just the best creation. I am a sucker for wildlife documentaries, as well as Horizon and Panorama. I was allowed to stay up and watch them when I was a kid and I still love them.
Music
I have a hugely eclectic taste that varies from The Strokes to Mozart. My girlfriend, who lives in Copenhagen introduced me to Tindersticks- apparently they are very big in Denmark. Their singer has the most melancholic, soulful voice and I like a little melancholy now and again. It is a Celtic thing I think, and quite indulgent, but I don't care.
Theatre
The first play that I went to see was Bertholt Brecht's The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui and I sat there mesmerised. I will never forget this tremendous feeling of excitement and interest. It was like a whole new world opening up to me.
Art
My Dad bought me an easel and some oils for my birthday last year and I have just started to paint again for no other reason than I find it very enjoyable and therapeutic. The most exciting gallery I have ever been to in my life is right opposite the Picasso Museum in Paris. It is full of work by these wonderful young artists. I remember this guy in the doorway looking across to the Picasso Museum and you felt that this was what he was aspiring to.
City
New York. Driving down the Avenue of The Americas, loving the idea that steam really does come up through the street and feeling that you know all these places because you have seen them so many times in the movies.
Pet hate
Confessional and house decorating programmes they drive me insane.