script fell into my lap. I looked at it and 　　　　thought it was kind of exactly what I was looking for. I got into a conversation with Olen Steinhauer who’s work I’d read. I was very very interested in his mind and his eye because I think it’s quite a unique eye in an over saturated genre. He doesn’t make these characters James Bond characters, they’re very ordinary. He doesn’t have proficiency fetish.

A lot of the characters in Berlin Station have a lot of complexity. You don’t　 know who to trust. Is Daniel trustworthy? Does he have a secret, or a dark　 side?

I still don’t know! I said all along Daniel needed to be somebody who was　　　 essentially a patriot, but was having it tested in every encounter. He’s having his base morals fractured I suppose. He is a trustworthy person. I think he speaks　　 the truth when he sees the truth but a player who works on the chessboard of espionage ultimately has to wear many masks. There are occasions when you’ll　 see Daniel operating an asset, interacting with a colleague whereby he can’t pass information to them. They have to be trustworthy and untrustworthy. 　　　　　But essentially at his core he is a good person.

Tell us about Hector (Rhys Ifans) and Daniel’s relationship.

The history of Hector and Daniel is so interesting. They’re like two opposing 　　metals that were fused together in a furnace which was an event in Chechnya. 　They were on an operation together that went terribly wrong. They’ve been kind of bound by this event. Their friendship is rooted in that but at the same time　 Daniel can sense that there’s something amiss with Hector. It’s really complicated to play that 〓 I wouldn’t say they necessarily liked each other but they find　　　 themselves in one another’s company a lot. They collaborate and they work　　　 together and it would seem on the surface they are very good friends. But 　　there’s something, like a metallic taste underneath, that neither of them can　　　 identify.

Let’s talk about your relationship with Esther (Mina Tander). You start off 　　adversarial but you warm up a little bit…

It’s interesting. Esther was one of the very last characters of the first block and　 one of the last actors I worked with. It was the last day of the shoot before we 　were going to break before Christmas. 　We’d all had a big quaff of Berlin Station