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Rory Kinnear - William Swift

Spooky
  Do you believe in ghosts?

Well, I have to say I never have done. I've enjoyed a good ghost story now and again, and I've been known to tell a few in my time.

Are there any special or magical powers that you would like to possess?

Special powers? I'd like to live rent-free, I'd like to have a self-cooking oven that provided me with my food, and be 80 feet tall.

Where would you buy your clothes?

I'd have to wear buildings!

Dressing up
  Are you a fan of costume drama?

I'd like to do it in the sense that they usually tell good stories, have interesting characters and seem to be quite popular.

I haven't tended to watch them myself, simply because my Sundays always used to be ruined by my mother and sister forcing me to watch The House of Elliot when I was wanting to watch the football highlights. That put me off costume dramas as a child, but certainly the more recent ones have been very spectacular.

How did you get into acting?

I came from a family of actors, so it was always around me. It was something that I didn't have to discover in the sense of knowing what it was, but I started doing it when I was about 13 or 14, when I realised my dreams of being a goalkeeper were going to flounder, in the sense that I was terrible. Acting was the next best thing that I was good at.

Monster fun
  How have you found these recording sessions?

It's been wonderful. Everyone's been so very nice and enthusiastic and talented as well, and it's been great to meet people behind some of the most potently recognisable voices in British film history. Amber's been wonderful as well.

Does it feel quintessentially British?

I think Amber and Chris have both focused on the fact that there would probably be some differences. They seem to have a good grasp of the history of the English novel themselves. Certainly Amber was talking about her love affair with Jane Austen, so they know most of the phrases.

Anything that has come across as being a little too transatlantic like - what was it? - Joe was meant to say 'disorient', but you naturally wanted to say 'disorientate'. Amber was thinking, 'Why's he saying disorientate?' That's how we say it, so when they pop up we change them.

Brotherly love
  How's the rapport been with your 'sister' Jasmine?

It has been terrible! No, it has been all too brotherly and sisterly. We are constantly taking the Michael out of each other and usually kicking each other before recording starts in the ultra-professional way that you like to adopt.

Do you have brothers and sisters?

I have two elder sisters. I think it's probably a boon being the baby of a family, and being the only son in that you tend to get viewed on as quite special. We do get on, but obviously my sister is a person that can annoy me more than anyone in this world.

Stiff upper lip
  What do you make of William as a character? Do you see his point of view?

He's a lot more of the stiff upper lip brigade than myself, and he takes himself very seriously, which obviously I don't.

I guess that getting into someone with that sort of rigidity of lifestyle and sense of belief [is hard], but once you've encountered your first were-beast then that sense of rigidity [goes].

You've got to realise that perhaps basing yourself, basing a lifestyle, around a sandy beach [is not sensible], because there's not too much that you can have believed in before [that] can remain once you've been gored and seen the ghost of Byron.

Do you see animated William looking very much like yourself, or is there a particular image you have in your mind?

I had an image of a very slightly pointed-faced, quite thin [person] - someone whose cheeks I imagine turn red in anger quite quickly. With a bit of a quiff, so exactly like me.

On the web
  What do you make of the whole idea of webcasts?

The way this has gone - for us - is no more different in terms of the recording process than radio, [or] for animation.

I guess the fact that it's on the Internet is an unusual departure, certainly for most actors. Probably most of them don't know how to use the Internet, so they'll never be able to see it. But it's a great way of creating a huge web of viewers, and people being given instant access to something that they might not [otherwise] be able to get - people who are interested in some of the actors and maybe Amber. They can see them wherever they may be in the world.

How would you like to see Ghosts of Albion develop?

It would be great to have the same characters, and also maybe bring in other ghosts from the past. We all like to see historical figures portrayed on the screen, so I think that would be interesting.