The 5-minute Interview: Sean Pertwee, Actor

'I play a lot of hard men but I'm not at all like that'

(MJ Kim/Getty Images)

Sean Pertwee, 43, made his film debut in 1987's 'Prick up Your Ears' and has since become a regular television fixture, starring most recently in the ITV drama 'Honest'. Season 1 of 'Honest' is available on DVD now.

If I weren't talking to you right now I'd be...

Having a bath or doing bills.

A phrase I use far too often is...

"Lugubrious". I use it a lot but my wife is always telling me to stop.

I wish people would take more notice of...

The speed bumps around Islington. They're driving me insane at the moment. I live in Islington and they have already ruined my motor bike twice.

The most surprising thing that happened to me was...

My wife getting pregnant and having my son. Being a father is a surprise for me every day.

A common misperception of me is...

That I am like the characters I play. I play a lot of hard men and gangsters and I'm not like that at all.

I am not a politician but...

If I was, I'd want peace. I'd put all my efforts into obtaining it. But you don't have to be a politician to work for peace.

I'm good at...

Cooking. I am a fantastic cook. It's my great passion.

I'm very bad at...

Driving. I don't like it, so I just start looking out of the window.

In moments of weakness I...

I would like to say that I smoke in a moment of weakness, but in fact I smoke through permanent personal weakness.

You know me as an actor, but in another life I'd have been...

Either something in the arts or a chef.

The best age to be is...

About 30. That was when it all started to come together for me and things started to make sense.

In a nutshell, my philosophy is...

Try to be happy.

Michael Wright