by Jemima Hunt.

Joseph Fiennes Star of Shakespeare in Love and Elizabeth.

On Being a Fiennes: "Being one of six children meant always having enough of you to play games. Martha, Ralph and Magnus have collaborated on a film together, Eugene Onegin, but three together was quite enough without me being in it as well."

On Playing the bard: "William Shakespeare is an impossible man to nail down. For every fact about him there is another that contradicts it. The reason he wrote all those plays was just to pay the rent."

On Falling for Gwyneth: "Gwyneth Paltrow plays my muse (in SiL) and originally appears as a boy because in Elizabethan times all actors were male. Even so, all the crew, myself included, managed to fall in love with her. She is genuinely stunning."

Men in Tights: "I had to wear tights in Elizabeth and in SiL. They looked like they had a couple of giant tomatoes stuffed down the front."

Household Success: "Success has meant being able to buy a house in Notting Hill, although I'm still living out of boxes and deciding what colors to paint the walls."

Public Recognition: "I still take the subway every day. People do occasionally recognize me and stare, but I think they're just trying to psych me out."