I think most voice actors will tell you [that] you have to put a lot of animation into your voice.

All right, if it's a commercial for some kind of sleep tonic, then you don't get animated, but normally you have to put a lot of your presence through the microphone because that's your camera, and if you're flaccid about it nothing comes through and you have a dead thing.

And then, because animation is not human, it doesn't have a soul if you have a dead voice - it's basically a one-dimensional image and the whole thing's a bit crippling.

I have been involved with one or two experiences in my life that ended up a bit like that. I won't say what they are, but of course the animation I really remember was playing Legolas in the animated version of The Lord of the Rings, many, many years ago now.

I can't actually remember how I played it, but then I saw the animation and nobody told me that I was a blonde. Of course I would have played it totally differently, because I had black hair.