We're living through a time where we are fighting wars fostered by politics, admittedly not on the same scale as the First World War, but with equally tragic realities for our soldiers and their families.
Honestly, it's very satisfying, and I'm very, very happy about how successful the last few years have been... It's great for the people who supported me early on to see the success I'm enjoying now.
[Season 4 of Sherlock Holmes will be] myopically dark. You're talking about the end of the universe darkness. You can't see in front of you and would walk into everything dark.
It was great. I got to hang out with him [Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins], and I kept a straight face for a bit and then I started giggling because I know Martin, I don't know Bilbo. For Martin to be sitting there playing Bilbo is amazing. He's going to be amazing, he's going to be fantastic in this film.
There's so much in the 21st century that is stymied by bureaucracy and mediocrity and committee.
Sherlock [Holmes] is on the side of the angels, but don't think he's one of them. He uses similar means, but it seems to be for a better purpose, one would hope.
It's difficult because nothing's preordained by plan and you can't control it. That's one of those joys and thrills and nerve-racking realities of being an actor. A lot has to do with luck, no matter what your talent or contribution can be.
You'd have to be pretty hard-nosed not to feel some sympathy for the guy [Doctor Strange].
Sherlock being the most prevalent, and they've been really good fun.
[Doctor Strange ] is slightly more specialised than Spider-Man or Superman or Batman, but he's very loved by people who know him.
Writing in French is one of my ambitions. I'd like to be able to dream one day in French. Italian and French are the two languages that I'd like to know.
There are other people who don't mind shouting from the pulpit and being judged for it, and they do a hell of a lot of good - real, on-the-ground, life-changing good. So I think it can sometimes be a balancing act.
What's not to look forward to? It's like all the actors in all of the films. It's difficult to get Martin Freeman and I in a room together. Imagine what it's like to get myself, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., Elizabeth Olsen... these extraordinary actors who all have careers outside the Marvel Universe.
Scott Derrickson breathes humour into a character with a very strong identity in the '60s and '70s, that psychedelia era of Eastern mysticism meeting the West.
If you can't jump on board when the ride's going past that's it, it usually goes by, so the hugest compliment they paid me was to come back to me. It motivated me to try to fulfill their faith.
Doctor Strange is an origin story so there's a certain room for me improving as well as the character improving.
Being someone who is of our sensual reality, Stephen Strange has a lifestyle, he has a sexuality, he's materialistic.
Only when Stephen Strange has his accident and everything that he's ever had in his life falls apart that he becomes pretty monstrous. It's the self-loathing rage of a wounded animal and he doesn't have a coping mechanism at all. It ties in with the discipline and the magic of this world.
The biggest lesson Stephen Strange learns in this film is it's not all about him.
Doctor Strange is selfish but he's still saving lives.
I'm quite surprised by how many people grew up with this character [Doctor Strange ].
I'm sad in a way that the character [Doctor Strange ] leaves [neurosurgery] behind. It's an amazing discipline.
Kevin Feige said to me: "I don't think we've ever put an actor through quite as much as this, physically and mentally." I'll wear that as a badge of honour. It was endless.
It's an interesting arc. You start with a character [Doctor Strange] who's likeable and charming but very arrogant and distant. He's funny but you can see there are massive holes in his life. It's a very painful transition and all that he becomes is tested so quickly and violently.
There's a heroic amount of effort that goes into making him [Doctor Strange] a superhero by the end of the film.
