I don`t see a benefit in accepting every single little morsel of work that comes along because I think in essence what you`re doing is you`re raping yourself really.

It`s such a small industry here you inevitably end up working with the same people over and over again. There are only so many actors to go around, which is good for us.

It was always something I knew I was capable of and from an early age my mother was involved in the film industry. She used to work at a production company. So I was exposed to a renaissance period of films in New Zealand back in the early 80`s.

[on his fondest memory of working with Peter Jackson while shooting the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy] Peter`s really open to the humor in the day-to-day. One time we were referencing a line in the book, "We counted all the slain and despoiled them, then we piled the carcasses and burned them." Of course, we went on all sorts of disgusting tangents about what else these Rohan soldiers did to the poor Orcs.

That`s always an interesting concept when you try to make your dream into a reality and you come up against the facts of exactly what it is you`re attempting to do.

I did a little theatre work after that and the following year I got another part in a television series. Then it was almost to the end of the year before I got more work. That was coming to terms with the reality of the vocation I had chosen.

There`s only so much you can do until you get on set and see the aesthetics of what you`re dealing with. Then you see what the other players are giving to you. It`s all about the transfer of energy between different actors.

I`ll need every ounce that I have to drive it through. Film and TV require that energy. Sometimes fight scenes can be pretty intense. When I was shooting "Heaven" it was truly guerrilla film-making.

Now I`m this far up the ladder and I`ve got so much farther to go with what I want to achieve with it.

When I work, I try to eat as much vegetarian as possible. When I do Cupid, I eat vegetarian because I need the energy. I`ve got those wings on my back.

That is a big danger, losing your inspiration. When I work in film and television I try to do each take a little differently. I never want to do the same thing twice, because then you`re not being spontaneous, you`re just recreating something.

It`s wonderful that people who watch and follow the shows take time to come see us, and I really do appreciate it. I`m quite blown away.