You bring an unusual degree of complexity to a role in a genre that usually doesn't bother with such niceties.

I had a very specific interpretation of the way I wanted to play it, but at first I didn't know if that would fit in with the rest of the characters in the film as a whole. Commodus is certainly a manchild, and he was a neglected child. It was very important for me to illustrate that in certain ways. His reactions to the combats in the arena - it's almost as if he doesn't comprehend what human life is; people are merely toys for his enjoyment.

Even though Commodus was an actual historical figure, Gladiator doesn't even pretend to tell us his real story does it?

No, it's a very fictionalised account. But also, it's a period where historians debate over the facts. I found a number of disputes over how Commodus actually died. The most accurate one is considered to be that he was strangled by a wrestler - but that wouldn't really work well for the film.

Did you have a chance to hang out with Oliver Reed before he died?

Yeah. But I don't really want to talk about it, please.

OK. What about Russell Crowe, then? Is he intense? Nice? Nuts? We've heard all three.

He's intense in the best way. He will stop at nothing to get a scene right, but off the set he was very generous with his time, always throwing parties for the cast and crew, renting sailboats and taking everybody out. Which was great, 'cause we were in Malta for three months on this film, with nothing else to do when we weren't working.

Did he try to force you to eat weird Australian food?

He did! He sent me a case of Vegemite! He had a friend bring it over who said, "Mate, this'll be great for you." I was like, "Leave!" I think it's still sitting in a hotel in Malta.

You began acting as a child, then quit for a while. How come?

I gave up when I was 14. I did a movie called Parenthood, which I liked a great deal. But the scripts that followed, I thought, were just dull. Y'know, white middle-class kids complaining about their problems. They just weren't detailed or fascinating enough for me, so about a year went by and, suddenly - no scripts came any more! Which, actually, was kind of fine by me. Then I started getting the bug again when I was 18. To Die For came along, and after I dived back in with that I saw what I'd been missing.

What did you do during those years in between?

I worked on a farm, actually, for quite some time. In Latin America.

What are you doing next?

A film called Flens 2000. It's about out-of-work American actors trying to make it in Bollywood. It's a comedy, kind of a throwback to ridiculous 80s buddy comedies, like Stir Crazy, that I love.

That sounds unique.