"Growing up in a Southern Baptist home, I was hesitant to read a fictional account of Jesus’ adult life, his own family relations, and the introduction of a romantic relationship. I know the ending to this story, so what could I possibly learn? However, my curiosity got the best of me, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved how the author humanized Jesus in a way I hadn’t seen him described before. I knew about his adoration for his mother, his intense sense of responsibility and his steadfast purpose, but I had never considered the down to earth humanity within those qualities: the love of laughter, warm interpersonal connections with siblings, and day-to-day decision-making. The other fascinating character was, of course, his love interest Ana. You see Jesus through this strong, feisty woman’s eyes and cannot help but weep with her when she loses her greatest love. As this historical moment that I had faithfully studied for all of my life unfolded, I was so involved in the story that I forgot everything aside from the passion, love and sacrifice these two figures shared. Sue Monk Kidd provides the ultimate gift that any writer has to offer their reader: the ability to climb inside the hearts and minds of her characters, feel their pain and celebrate their love. What an experience."

"This is a record my mum loved so it was played in our house all the time when I was growing up. Harvest was a huge commercial success for Neil Young but the songwriting is also unbelievable. It's as good as any album that Bob Dylan ever put out or anything The Beatles did. To me it's one of those iconic records that will always stand the test of time - it's as good as it can get. There's not really one bad song on the record, it's almost so stripped down and gradual sounding at spots. There's nothing in the way - the production is spot on. Neil's singing is so beautiful and fragile at the same time. I really think it’s a perfect album. I recently saw a BBC session, I can't remember where, but Neil Young was playing at the Round House and there's this amazing performance. He's playing a lot of songs from ‘Harvest’ before it came out and he's just so comfortable - it's just him and either a piano or an acoustic guitar, and it's so unbelievable. When you can tap into songs that simple, without the need of any production or band or anything, you realise how good the songwriter is. That's why the record sounds so good - because the songs are flawless."

"This might be seen as quite an obvious choice but, for me, this album was a gateway drug. When I was a kid, I remember my older brother and his mates getting really into Forever Changes and thinking, "This is just incredible." From that point onwards, I just wanted to hear more and more of that kind of music. We were all skateboarders in Cardiff back then. People always think of skateboarders being into proper hardcore music. My brother and his mates were into Love and The Doors… some were even into proper sunshine psych. We weren't team sports kind of people – we were the last people picked for football or rugby; a weird sort of outsider gang. Da Capo was a big milestone for me growing up as part of that gang. I loved the fact that Arthur Lee was very West Coast – a smart guy and definitely not a hippy; a freak-flag flier. There was something punk about their attitude. I love the story about him moving into a new neighbourhood in LA, somewhere properly rough. His whole thing was like, "Right. I'm going to let people know I'm here and that I'm the fucking toughest guy in the neighbourhood." He was a hardcore dude. They knew how to make proper aggro psych."

"After that would be Young Frankenstein. I think that, laugh for laugh… I mean, if you’re going to go for more laughs, I think Blazing Saddles. But Young Frankenstein‘s just a better movie. More solid. And it’s Gene Wilder. I was such a huge fan of Gene Wilder when I was growing up that I even used to try to do… He used to do something; he would say nonsensical… He would make noise in movies without words. He would say things like: [mumbles incoherently], like that, and it made me laugh so hard when he would do that, that I would try to put it in movies when I started acting. I did a movie called 28 Days, and I’m in rehab, and we’re in a circle talking about our feelings, and the script said, “She calls on Gerhardt, but he’s crying and he can’t respond,” and she says, “Okay, we’ll come back to you.” And so it came out. “Gerhardt, would you like to say something?” [bawls incoherently] And I just make noise. [laughs] And then I snuck it into A Knight’s Tale when I’m trying to threaten Chaucer for the first time. I’m like, [frustrated mumbling]. I would just rip [Gene Wilder] off, totally try to mimic him. So, Gene Wilder, huge fan. That’s number two."