I’ve always been frightened of the dark. I sometimes wonder whether it stems from being away filming from the age of five. I can remember being devastatingly homesick and having a little nightlight I used to look at to reassure myself things were all right.

Failure. I hate losing, particularly at football and politics. I play five-a-side every week – middle of midfield, barking orders. Some people say it’s the taking part that counts. I am not in that camp. It’s the winning that counts.

I think when I was younger, I had a lot of the fears that, that you expect from people. Like I was kind of afraid of spiders and things like that. And I think with, you know, years of dealing with fear nonstop, they've all sort of fallen away. I, I mean, I guess my greatest fear is like public embarrassment or public performance, or like what I said earlier about opera singing I'm like, that is still for sure that would be a nightmare. And like, yeah, I could do it. But I would be so bummed.

Incapacitation.

All the damn time, it comes with the territory. My family valiantly put up with most of them. Though the older I get, the bolder I am about saying no.

Bullying.

My wife says she does. I’d actually have to agree, though my kids and their friends are pretty amazing too.

The first 12 years of school. I was very unhappy. I was not academic, so I played the fool till I was 16.

Through the winter before we tuck up at night, I always warm the bed with a hairdryer.

On my professional stage debut, I heard my drama tutor moan, “Oh no” from the rear stalls as soon as I appeared.