John Wilson

And after stepping back from film, or Hollywood in particular, and focusing more on theatre, you now have television to thank for a whole new generation of viewers knowing you.

I mean, there's a fantastic cameo role that you had in Fleabag.

But also playing the spy boss in Slow Horses.

Yes.

Do you feel now you can cherry-pick the roles?

I mean, I've always done that.

Have you?

Yeah.

Believe me, I said no to quite a lot of them.

And some I regretted immediately, you know, thinking, oh, God, why didn't I do that?

That was so stupid.

I shot myself in the foot.

But, you know, as I say, it's a balance between real life and pretend life.

So I've always been in a very lucky, but also I've worked very hard to get there, of being able to think, no, I don't want to go off and do that.

And have I done this role before?

Yes, don't do it.

And that's happening a lot at the moment.

What was the appeal of playing the spy boss, Diana Tavener, in Slow Horses?

I mean, it looks like a lot of fun, doesn't it?

Yeah.