As far as that first scene in The Caretaker goes, it's a very good set up for the drama, and the character. I don't think you really get to know what Mick is about until the last couple of minutes though. It felt good, and you're in a strong position. It unsettles people.

Theatre-wise I've been lucky but it's also planned. I did only new plays at places that do almost soley new plays (like The Bush, Hampstead, and Royal Court are all great places to work), or classics at The Almeida, which is a brilliant place to work too. Two stage (and film) actors I admired hugely died a few years back: Tony Doyle and Donal McCann. I love the work of Terrence Malick, Martin Scorsese, Neil Jordan, and loads of others too. I'm dodging the question of who I want to work with - I know it's just that it's never who you expect it might be.

There were only 2 series. What did I say on the DVD? Must listen to that. Any arguments we had was just personal stuff and nothing to do with the scripts.

Well, I can't narrow it down to 5, I'm sorry. I really like my music, these would all be on the short list: "Let it Be," "Tim," and "Don't Tell a Soul," all by The Replacements. My friend introduced me to this band with a compilation tape that had loads of songs on it and they were nearly all great. I went to see them in Dublin in '92 I think, not long before they split and I won't forget it. Three songs in and Paul Westerberg was pulling carpet off the floor. This group walked it like they talked it, they were a dream and a nightmare to their record companies cos they were so unpredictable. When they performed live or on record, their nerves were exposed, and it was at times almost unbearably good. Check out the songs, "Androgenous," "Achin' to Be," "Swingin' Party," "Unsatisfied," "Sadly Beautiful," "Skyway," "Sixteen Blue," and "Within Your Reach." Also, Paul Westerberg has done some pretty good stuff since: "Everybody is Fantastic," and "The Clock Comes down the Stairs," both by MicroDisney.

I played the first one over and over in about 1984 and still do. It's really atmospheric, it can sound tinny and there's drum machines, but it's all about what Cathal Coughlan (vocals) and Sean O' Hagan (guitar) are doing. This maybe is my favorite album. "The Clock Comes Down the Stairs" is from a couple of years later and has a more poppy and polished sound. And this is great when you listen to what he's singing about. There was also a great EP called "In the World," with a great track called "Loftholdingswood." Cathal Coughlan went on to form a band called Fatima Mansions, they had a really hard aggressive sound which I loved. Also did some fine ballads - "Behind the Moon," being one I liked. "North Atlantic Wind," is another. Saw them lots of times. Of particular note was the period when they would open with a song called, "Angels Delight, which had a sweet intro with bell-like keyboards and a particularly hard and banging chorus of "burn motherfucker burn". Cathal then released some great solo stuff, the albums "Black River Falls," and "The Skys Awful Blue," both have lots of great songs. Last time I saw him play he was on his own with a keyboard, playing to a small crowd, half of whom hadn't heard him before and it was a blinder.

"Before the Holyhead," by The Stars of Heaven. This is a band from Dublin who were around for a while in the eighties. Played a kind of country tinged pop/rock. Great lyrics. Stephen Ryan also sounded raw to me in that Westerberg way. Tracks "Rain on the Sea," "Sacred Heart Hotel," "Easier This Way," (recorded later in Stephen Ryans next band The Revenants and released on "Horse of a Different Colour," but this was a stars song). Their version of Richard Thompson's "Calvary Cross," and here's a song I love: "Never Saw You." I'm not entirely sure which songs are on which records though.

Bonny Prince Billy (aka Will Oldham) (aka Palace Music) (aka Palace Song) favourite records: "Viva Last Blues," "I See a Darkness," "Ease Down the Road," "Master and Everyone," "Hope" -- these are all great. "Grace," by Jeff Buckley, and stuff by Nick Drake. Nirvana particularly, "In Utero," and "Bleach". Some good ones on "Nirvana Unplugged" as well ("Man Who Sold the World," "Pennyroyal Tea," "All Apologies). OK, that's it for now.

There's not much difference when it comes down to it, it usually depends on the kind of play and the kind of theatre.

Well, here's how that happened. I was completely broke, and was offered a couple of grand to go up to Manchester on the train and do it, so I said "Yes, I'd love to." It was strange. I was looking at the whole thing 10 episodes one after the other and I wasn't sure what I was looking at. Felt like I was looking at someone else. Didn't say much.

I did train hard for that final swordfight in Shaghai Knights, first with a fencing master in Prague and then with Jackie Chan's stunt team. As a result I got to do so much of that scene myself. I didn't do any special training for The Tempest although I can tell you I was fit after it, even if the first thing I did when it ended was fall asleep in the theatre bar. I cannot go under water without thinking about The Tempest and swimming into my airlock. Haven't scored much injuries; witnessed the Chan Team give some rough ones and take 'em well too. I've given out a couple of injuries though, with poorly timed fake punches which then became real punches.

You can only be typecast if you say yes to the roles. For example, I did get offers of characters similar to Stuart before and after QAF but didn't do them. I don't have typecasting concerns cos I decide what I do. You can't always be sure what you're going to get offered but you can decide about what to do with the stuff you are offered.

I will take that as a compliment. Peter O'Toole certainly is a great man. Some of the first plays I did, notably "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (twice) I drew a lot of laughs and I think that's what encouraged me to go on with it. Don't know what they were laughing at though. So yeah, maybe.

O.K. A) Platonov was difficult, it was also probably the most complex. This was a man, alone in the community, falling apart, watching himself fall to pieces, eluding a beautiful and bright woman who could be his saviour, and bringing tragedy on everyone. The script was fantastic, everything else about the production too. Jonathan Kent really is one of the best directors around. I indentified with this character in lots of ways, understood what it was all about and where it was going. I'm not sure why completely, but I wasn't on top of it every night. I was some nights, and when it was on it was really on and I had the most thrilling nights I had yet had on stage. In a play there's always good nights and bad nights but the good night ratio has got to be high. B) I was very happy playing Ariel in The Tempest (again directed by Jonathan Kent). The whole play was so much more than I imagined it being. The design and production were visionary and I felt like I was part of a magic trick. Playing Skinny in Mojo (on stage) I felt like I left a lot of bags behind, and felt really alive on stage in a way I hadn't before. Also Mick in The Caretaker but there will probably be more on that later. In films/tv I felt good about Safe, Mojo, and The Low Down. I mean in Safe (BBC film from '93) my acting is messy but my heart was in it, and everyone gave their all in that one. C) It's never good to slag off stuff you're in, but there's a couple of years gone by now so I will say: Gold in the Streets, The Darkling, Lorna Doone and I take full responsibility for what I did in those productions.

There was already a question like this but I will add a couple of names: I would like to do some of Tom Murphy's stuff at some point. Tom is an amazing Irish playwright, came into view 'round the same time as Pinter. When they did his play, "Whistle in the Dark" (about an Irish family in Birmingham) in London in the late 50's or early 60's one of the critics commented: "Anyone who wants to see what a nest of vipers we are nursing at our bosom should come and see "Whistle in the Dark" and then call for the immediate deportation of all the Irish from this land" (or words to that effect). And he's written many plays, he's a lot better known in Ireland than outside it, but has written a few really good ones in the last few years. "The Wake" and "The House" are among them. I just watched a film called Ratcatcher directed by Lynne Ramsey, and regardless of whether I ever work with her this is just a straightforward recommendation: see the film.

I immediately saw the play as a kind of puzzle, and I saw Mick as a kind of puzzle too, and thought I could do the puzzle. The thing about Pinter plays is that they are telling us things and we are not completely aware of what's happening at the time. They are operating on more than one level, more than just the surface. People are having this conversation about one thing and you find yourself thinking about something else. You can be taken places unawares with these plays. They're also full of good gags, which is all part of the thing.

I mean it went well etc, and it's noticed within the New York scene, but I don't know if it goes further than that. Although it did lead directly to what I'm doing now (series for HBO) so lets see.

Santa Claus (or Santy as we call him in Ireland). I'd like to ride with him in the sleigh at Christmas. Did you know St. Nicholas is the Patron Saint of Thieves?

Proud of it. It's an honour. I don't live for awards or nominations but it feels good when it happens, I suppose. I never really expect it. But the company you're in? Far out.

Well I don't know the play - I better read it - I wouldn't have any doubts about its pedigree. I've seen some of the Laurence Olivier film version, it looked pretty good. In the documentary about the Sex Pistols, "The Filth and the Fury" they keep juxtaposing images of Johnny Rotten (Lydon) and Laurence Olivier as Richard III.

Nice one, Marlon. Do these not apply to everyone? Certainly the third part is true, I mean an actor has to know what's going on and has to know how people are.

A nice gentle question to round things off. Here's some beautiful places in Ireland: Connemara, Sligo, Kerry, the Burren...they're busy with lots of tourists but that doesn't make them any less beautiful. Go on a rainy day. I also like out of the way places in the Midlands. Islands are good too, like Inishboffin, Inis Meain. I do miss Ireland but I'm there a lot so it's OK. I have a big celtic brooch with the wild bull of cooley on it through my belly-button. No, I dont really. No jewelry at all.

Hhmmmmnnnn....