When I became a professional actor I was fortunate to be given my first job there by a director called Jonathan Petherbridge.…He instilled in me a way of thinking about acting, which was about as far away from it being a vain occupation as possible, in that drama has significant possibilities for change in society, however small.

The man who inspired me most, I think, was Dr. Alfred Blalock, who was professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins. He was a rather simple man with a burning curiosity. It was through his curiosity that he made many real contributions to medical science. I didn’t think he was an especially brilliant man, I just admired him for his curiosity, and for his perseverance.

The person who has inspired me my whole life is my Mom, because she taught me commitment. She sacrificed. We weren’t dirt poor, but we weren’t real rich or anything. I would always have what I needed, and when I looked in her closet, she would have two dresses. She taught me to be outside of yourself, to get outside of yourself, and to be committed to somebody. That’s the same thing that I try to teach. Throughout my life, my mom has been the person that I’ve always looked up to. She never went to high school. I remember, in an old Polish way, she said, “Mike, I went to the eighth grade twice because the teacher liked me.” She had great, self-effacing humor, and loved life. I really admire her.

I think I have been mentored by many extraordinary judges in my career, but there’s one in particular that probably changed the course of my life on the court. And that’s Justice John Paul Stevens and the one year we overlapped.

During my Queensland childhood, on the days when I avoided the chlorine-infused shower gauntlet and being corralled into the deep end of the school pool.

When Adèle walked down the road at the end of the film Blue Is The Warmest Colour.

I also like dogs and cryptic crosswords.

In the series I’ve got massive slabs of dialogue so I had to understand the scientific principles involved and then fake it to credibility.

But, tough, I have fallen…flat before. You just get up and dust yourself off.

But if I’ve come up with any kind of mantra for myself it’s to try and put myself into a state of imaginative play.