You only have to look at Manchester's Royal Exchange or Home to understand the huge energy outside London - there's enough talent around the country to have a Donmar and National in every city. It just comes down to money.
I think the city isn't talked about enough, there are not enough people championing Birmingham. When I was at university in Manchester I wasn't a fan, I was a bit down on my home city. But as I've got older I love living here. It's easy to get around the country to gigs, and it's a calming, friendly city.
I did a lot of theatre when I started out. It was the Lyceum, the Citz, the Tron and the Traverse. I came to London and did the Royal Court, the National, 'King Lear' at the Manchester Royal Exchange. I did little bits of comedy, like 'Rab C Nesbitt,' but I wasn't predominantly about comedy.
I love Manchester. I always have, ever since I was a kid, and I go back as much as I can. Manchester's my spiritual home. I've been in London for 22 years now but Manchester's the only other place, I think, in the country that I could live.
Manchester is obviously is a huge footballing city with Manchester City and Manchester United there - and I really like this accent because my agent is also from Manchester and my girlfriend's family is from Manchester.
In London, you'll be walking around and, 'Oh, there's the ground.' Every area of the city has a Premier League club. They all survive; they all exist with enough money, and that's good.
I will say it loud and clear: at Manchester City, it is all about what you choose to look at. If you look at the money spent on players, you will only ever see that side of City. If you look at the bigger plan, which is investment in the community, facilities, and youth teams, you realise there is heart and soul in this club.
London is a very big city, Manchester is calmer. I live near the training ground, so I do things around there in the countryside, but I really like Manchester's Northern Quarter, where they have nice coffee shops and live music places.
You know Manchester is always a bit of a hard place for people coming from London, just with all the history. Manchester has this immensely huge and healthy history musically.
We can talk about Manchester! I like coming here, it's a wicked city. It's my second favourite city in England after London. I like Liverpool too but there's a lot more to do in Manchester.
One thing that people outside Chicago need to understand is that the city is not just one thing. It is one city, but it is huge and sprawling. And historically, it has been one of America's most segregated cities.
Every household down my road in Peckham, south-east London, stunk of deep-fat frying and I'm sure every working-class home around the country was the same. How would you have done chips and Spam fritters without a deep-fat fryer?
Whatever New York loses, if you go to other cities around the world, or around the country, New York still has a kind of energy level you find nowhere else. Paris doesn't have it, London doesn't have it, San Francisco, a great city, doesn't have it.
I love Milan because it's my home town. But Paris is the dream city: even when you're stressed out in shows, you look around, and everything is so beautiful. Then, in New York, I love the energy of the city.
A perfect weekend in London has to start on Friday night, by going to the theatre, the Donmar or the National. It's a cliche for an actor, but I enjoy going as much as possible.
Debt is not just a money thing. It's about owing and being owed. Money is just one thing you can exchange. You can exchange good deeds, you can exchange revenge, you can exchange murders.
I was a natural talent, a raw talent. Then I came to Manchester City, and I learned philosophies.