Tim Pigott-Smith

For an actor whose work tends towards the darker moments, Tim Pigott-Smith is in danger of becoming a national treasure. He unnerved and enticed in equal measure in his award-winning breakout role as Ronald Merrick in the classic series Jewel in the Crown, his first in a long line of antagonists and nemeses. However, he is thoroughly resistant to typecasting, and his career has seen him range from playing unshakeable soldiers, in Bloody Sunday and The Four Feathers, to P. G. Wodehouse and Herbert Henry Asquith in recent years. He is a constant on television and cinema screens, and a stalwart of the stage. Last year he took the title role in King Charles III, winning rave reviews in both its Almeida and West End run, and this October will see him take the conflicted monarch to Broadway.

1. What was your biggest career break?

Jewel in the crown.

2. Have you had a notable mentor – and if so what was it about them that was so inspiring?

Desmond Davis gave me a lot of breaks and explained filming to me.

3. What one piece of advice would you give to the 20-year-old you?

Just play the part, don't try and conquer the world

4. What qualities do you most value in people with whom you work?

Patience, kindness and a sense of fun

5. Who do you admire and why?

Ian McKellen was my leading man on my third job. He was a brilliant leading man, and his input as an actor starts where most peoples' stops. Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are great simply great. Melvyn Bragg is astounding - his curiosity, his energy. I would pay the license fee for him alone!

6. What does the future of acting, film, and the theatre look like, to you?

Film acting is of a fantastically high general standard now, but we do not have greats as in the days of the old studio stars - Bogey, Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn, Newman. Streep, and maybe Pacino are perhaps the exceptions that prove that rule. Theatre actors get fewer and fewer because the training ground of repertory has gone. It used to be said that it took twelve to fifteen years to produce a pro. The young ones today are phenomenally gifted, and capable of much more than we were - they dance, they sing, they produce, they do it all. But they do not have enough opportunity to practise. The classics will suffer - as the ability and experience to deal with heightened language in big spaces is eroded.

7. If you hadn’t lived a life in acting, film and the theatre, what would you have done instead?

My dad was a journalist and I think I would have been obliged to try my hand at being a hack.

8. What is your biggest extravagance?

Don't know the meaning of the word. Going to the theatre a lot?

9. Who would you invite to your dream dinner party and why? (you can invite three people – they must be alive)

Henry Marsh, the brain surgeon, Mike Brearley, and Lady Antonia Fraser.

10. What do you do to relax away from work?

To relax properly I need sun and sea. at home I do things - diy, I read, I listen to music, my wife and I watch box sets!

11. If you could change one thing about Britain today, what would it be?

Our repellent government.

12. What would your last meal be? (you can choose a starter, a main course and a pudding)

Smoked salmon.