Biographie

He was a judge for the Man Booker Prize for Literature in 2012. He had to read 148 novels in eight months.

He was adopted at just 7 days old and raised by 2 school teachers.

Fluent in French and German.

Is close friends with Benedict Cumberbatch.

Is good friends with his Cambridge University schoolmates Rebecca Hall, Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston.

[on the controversy surrounding his leaving the Downton Abbey (2010) cast to make 'The Guest'] I couldn't have sat down two years ago and said, 'Okay, Julian Fellowes, what I really want to do is a twisted action thriller black comedy with horror elements. Preferably with an American accent'. That would have been insane and highly implausible. But as soon as the opportunity came along it seemed like a reality.

The comfort zone is the great enemy to creativity; moving beyond it necessitates intuition, which in turn configures new perspectives and conquers fears.

A British porch is a musty, forbidding non-room in which to fling a sodden umbrella or a muddy pair of boots; a guard against the elements and strangers. By contrast the good ol' American front porch seems to stand for positivity and openness; a platform from which to welcome or wave farewell; a place where things of significance could happen.

My dad tells me that he took us to a pantomime when I was very, very small - panto being a sort of English phenomenon. There's traditionally a part of the show where they'll invite kids up on the stage to interact with the show. I was too young to remember this, but my dad says that I was running up onstage before they even asked us.

We take so many of our freedoms for granted nowadays - I can travel where I like, I can have a baby when I like, I can do any job I want - but I do think chivalry has been lost a little bit.