Michael Socha

'Wonderland' was incredible, but 'Once Upon A Time,' I found it quite soul-destroying.

There's not many jobs that I would put my body on the line for.

When I first started acting, I never thought I'd be on TV or film. I always wanted to be on stage.

Sometimes I'm on a TV set, and I can't feel what I'm supposed to feel as that character because I've not worked my way up to that point. I think there's a bit more insecurity on a set - you've got to blag it, or you've got to do what you've been paid a lot of money to do in a very short space of time.

It's fun finding your way to the performance instead of coming in and hoping to God you're impressing the director - and hoping you're delivering the lines right with no treatment beforehand.

If I wanted to do something on stage, I wanted it to be something I could really get into and feel.

I don't want to be doing a job where I'm not doing a job, just sitting around in my flat just bored.

I like to go for auditions. I enjoy that aspect of this job until I actually need a job, and then that becomes a problem. The worst thing is to build yourself up for a role and not get it, so now I'm just taking every day as it comes and trying not to rely on anything.

Generally, nowadays, I'm using my own accent because casting directors want it; they like that.

I suppose, back in the day, when I was on the stage, I had nothing to lose, and I did the accents.

I started in theatre; the first bit of drama I did was amateur dramatics, up until I was 19. Then the TV and film opportunities came along, but now I was just ready to come back.

I find the fans really interesting and nice, and I'll go over and say hello.

You feel that your character is special. It's not your normal nine-to-five. You're not someone who goes home and lives a normal life.

Sometimes I like to go out; sometimes I like to chill and do nothing.

What I say about 'This Is England' is they're like my best friends back home. Normal, working-class, beautiful people who I'm creative with.

Your character - you own it. That's something you have to grab hold of on 'This Is England'. Your character is your character.

The thing is, with 'This Is England', you're always thinking as yourself. You're acting on an instinct. You're acting on what you've heard, what you've been told, and what's happened beforehand.

To act for a living is a gift, and understanding you're a lucky bloke keeps your feet on the ground.

I was never on the side of the teachers at school. Even though I put all the work into getting the main role in the end-of-year musical when I was 11, they didn't give it me, even though they knew I should have had it. That sort of drove me into am dram and getting the main part in another production. And I did.

The only things I could do were English, drama and history. I loved them subjects, but I hated everything else.

I always get nervous when I watch what I'm in. Very self-critical.

I love watching people, guessing what they are going to do next. I'm no Derren Brown, but I love that people stuff. Maybe that's why I'm an actor.

I love my Nike Air Max trainers. They're big and bulky and spanking - I can't be doing with grubby trainers.

I should have lived through the '80s, not been born in it. My style is a mix of hip-hop and '80s casual.

An accent like mine and a face like mine, I think a lot of the time it's easy for casting directors to just stick me in as a bad boy, but 'Being Human' took a risk on me - bless 'em - and I'm not that bad boy no more.