"Erik Satie is something that, when I was at school, an English teacher who probably had a hangover, just said: "I'm gonna put on some music and you write something what comes into your mind." He put on the Erik Satie record - first time I heard it - and I thought, "Fuck, this is amazing." I really, clearly remember that day getting hold of some money and going to the record shop in town, and this is all they had, an interpretation of Satie involving Moog synthesisers. The synth sounds work so well with it. It gives a different angle, a different perspective. All the Satie records I've bought since are piano. All those amazing orchestrations by Debussy or Satie, orchestral interpretations. Satie is intrinsically very ascetic and plain. Really weird guy. I've lost the record now. I've got to find it! I think it's really, exceptionally brilliant."

"I love reading plays. Part of the reason I became an actor was that I would read one and think, 'Ah, it’d be fun to be in that.' Arcadia is about the discovery of certain theories of physics and math, but it’s also a love story — a sad love story — infused with ideas of early feminism and the Industrial Revolution. The action bounces back and forth between the early 1800s and modern times stylistically and smoothly. And the words are just beautiful. Stoppard has an amazing command of the English language. He moves the plot along in such a way that if you’re not paying close attention, you won’t catch the five or six things that are going on. This is probably my favorite play — it’s got this weird combination of excellent dramatic writing and math and science. It sounds kind of nerdy, but there you go."

"If you’re a fan of one of the Welsh rugby regions, then you’ll know this song. At Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli, this is what they come out to, and it’s amazing. The lyric is about the Welsh language and how it has withstood the Romans and English culture, but you don’t actually need to know that to appreciate the song. If you play it and it’s raining outside you can feel its spectral power. Dafydd Iwan had a long career in politics with Plaid Cymru but he is also a folk singer. I first heard it about 10 years ago when I went to see Cardiff Blues play the Scarlets. They came on to this song and it just hit me somewhere between my heart and my brain – the perfect place for a song to hit you. I wish I knew how to bottle the feeling this song gives me."