Paul Capsis

It was so bizarre to me.

So strange.

I mean, you take it for granted, I guess.

You grow up in Australia in those days, water, you know, electricity.

But the thing about my grandmother was she couldn't bear waste, and my grandfather, both of them, couldn't bear any waste.

Electricity, water, whatever it was, don't waste it because you don't know one day you may not have it.

She was a very clean and tidy lady, but it's...

I'm aware now that in Maltese culture, it's a real thing because we've all got, I call it the disease of this need for clean cleaning and cleanliness and order.

And it becomes an obsession.

My mother has it.

I know my mum's siblings have it.

I mean,

The type that you get up on a ladder to clean the dust on top of the door.

It's not a Polish gene, I'm quite sure.

On top of the cupboard.

And it's ironic, of course, because I'm playing Quentin Crisp, who never cleaned.

In fact, believed never to clean, ever.

She did it all?

My grandmother never made me do anything but I, except go to church, I wanted to clean to help her and to – I was one of those children that needed the pat on the back.

I needed the attention and I've made a career of it now.