Kenneth Branagh

"I did the obvious things. I did a bit of HAMLET, and a bit of Edmund from KING LEAR. You had to wait in a common room at the top of the building, and that itself was quite exciting because you got to walk up the main steps with the awards on the walls going back to 1905.

I was most drawn to the classics and Shakespeare. I liked the stage fighting and the dancey stuff. I remember I wasn't very good at being an animal. We had to be an animal for a long time, and I wasn't great at it. Mime I wasn't very good at either.

It was exciting because I went when I was 18, it was the first time I'd moved away from home and London is London. I was a grafter though; I really worked hard. I was excited to be there, and couldn't get over the feeling of 'being there', of that building, with all those famous names everywhere. We worked hard and played hard. Most people did both.

I think that first group dynamic, when you're all living away from home, is very important. Learning how to get on inside a group. Living in this world where your emotions are very close to the surface. That's all as memorable as what you learnt about acting. It was an intensive experience. I think the life skills I learnt at RADA were people skills.

I really enjoyed being in a Woody Allen film called "Celebrity". When I got the job he wrote me a letter than began, 'Dear Ken. When I wrote this, I knew that there was only one actor in the world who could play this part: Alec Baldwin. But he's not available, so I picked you.'"