Q: Jeremy, you did an outstanding job in Gosford Park. You have the most beautiful singing voice; why don't you use it more often?
A: I never get the opportunity! I used to sing but a long time ago, about 15 or 16 years ago, when I was at drama school. I started with a friend as a summer job really; we both needed some money and we used to go from restaurant to restaurant. We actually joined the actor's union, through singing in restaurants. After a while we were sure that the restaurants used us as a device to get the customers out at the end of the night. So I haven't really sung since, except in the bathroom!

Q: I would think that for this film you must have had the toughest job in terms of research because the character that you play, Ivor Novello, was a real life actor and singer.
A: I didn't really have that much time. Most of my time was spent working on the music. It's one thing to sit down off camera with a sheet of music in front of you and work out how you are going to make it sound like you had written this music, it's another to play with no music in front of you and try to imply that you are a better pianist than you really are and you just decided to play it like this today. I also had to find the vocal style that was right for something that I could do and was right for the music. Novello himself didn't really sing, but he was a very accomplished pianist; he sang as a boy in a chorus so we are taking a little bit of licence that he sang at all in this situation. Hopefully people aren't going to be upset by the historical flexibility.

Q: I think people will really like him. You have some wonderful scenes in the parlor when you are singing and playing and even the downstairs help stand in the hallways and stairwells just so that they can listen. It's fabulous to watch.
A: Thanks. I enjoyed that scene very much. You know, it's not a bio-pic about Ivor Novello. It's a supposed fiction — a what if. He was a very loved figure in British history. They say that there are three major funerals that affected the British public in this century. One was Winston Churchill's, one was Princess Diana and the third was Ivor Novello's, where hundreds of thousands of people followed the procession through the streets. He was much loved.

Q: Here you are in a film with some of the finest British actors and Robert Altman is at the helm as a director.
A: Yes, I actually had to pinch myself a few times to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. I consider myself very lucky to have worked on this film.

Q: What, in your opinion, makes Robert Altman so unique as a director? Why does everyone want to work with him?
A: I think. first of all, the obvious thing — the sheer nature of his body of work over the years. He has a tremendous paternal personality on the set, he really wants and encourages a real family atmosphere that everyone is sharing and has an equal stake in the whole enterprise. He wants everyone to feel comfortable and at ease and that doesn't mean flattering people. It just means treating people right and with interest, and he's a very humane personality.

Q: I had the opportunity at the Toronto International Film Festival to see another film that you star in called Enigma, which was very good as well.
A: Thank you. I really should have been there.

Q: Well, with circumstances around the time (September 11th), it's totally understandable why you weren't. The film is directed by Michael Apted and produced by Mick Jagger. What was it like having Mick hanging around the set?
A: It was fine. It's very odd to be asked that question, as you can imagine I've been asked that a lot and I just go, 'it was fine.' What surprises me is that you forget that after a couple of days that it's Mick Jagger. He's a very personable bloke and he doesn't come with any airs and graces so after a while it was just, 'how you doing Mick?' 'Oh ya, I'm fine.' He's just another bloke on the set; he's not the superstar.