A big ask: John Simm
		Publication	Time Out
		Text by	Time Out
		Date	9 April 2009

If you've got an hour to kill in London, what do you do?
The National Gallery: it's free, it's brilliant and it's massive. I love that amazing picture of Lady Jane Grey where she's sort of fallen over and she's blindfolded. I used to stare at that for hours.

What do you read to your children?
My little boy's getting older now, so we're trying to crack those Charlie Higson Young Bond books. We got halfway through the first one and there was an image in it that gave him nightmares so we stopped for a bit. I turn in my best performances for these, doing the voices and everything...

First powerful piece of TV you watched?
One Summer, this Willy Russell drama with David Morrissey about two scousers called Billy and Icky who run off to the countryside. I mentioned it to David when we did State Of Play. He was very flattered, but then he wanted to forget about it, 'cos it was probably made in about 1943 or something.

Ever Google your name?
I'd be lying if I said I hadn't. It's easy to go on fansites and drink in all the praise, but anything bad stays with you. Russell T Davies said to me, 'Don't, whatever you do, go on any Doctor Who fansites.' And he was absolutely right. That way madness lies.

Piece of work you're most proud of?
They're the things that you wouldn't think, like the Van Gogh drama, The Yellow House' or Crime And Punishment. The Lakes makes me really sad that I haven't got cheekbones like that anymore!

And least proud of?
There was a thing called Forgive And Forget that wasn't great. (Laughs) I'd rather forgive and forget it. And I did a film called Tuesday for a favour, so I'm going to stop doing favours...

Most memorable audition?
I used to do a few adverts. I went in for one and they said, 'Imagine you open this packet of crisps and a big monster comes out, and you look surprised.' I thought: Riiight. So I did it once, and then I did it again, and then I walked out and that was the last one I did.

Who would you interview on your own chat show?
Paul McCartney. God knows where I'd start. It would be a long, long interview.

Tell us about a hobby.
At the moment, I'm really into Stewart Lee. I loved Lee and Herring, and his new show is fantastic! I watched one of his DVDs last night and it's very funny. But then I realised that I could probably watch every single bit of it on YouTube. So it was probably a waste of money.