As to the supposed troubles from the set, such as Scorsese's reported drubbing of Dicaprio for tardiness on set, it would appear that someone has been telling fibs. "I didn't hear that and I didn't notice anything like that. They're doing something else, Leonardo and Marty, so they must have got on alright. When I was doing it, it seemed a blissful relationship."

"Actually there was a lot of scurrilous stuff in the press coming from Rome which was absolute bollocks so far as I could tell. You'd read it and think 'where did they get that from?'"

"I have been thinking of him a lot while I've been in Rome filming The Gangs of New York with Martin Scorsese. Scorsese only ever sits down for about four seconds at a time - to bite his nails. He brings down his amazing black eyebrows so they completely cover his eyes. It's fantastic working with him - rather like having played the violin at the local am-dram panto, then suddenly being asked to go and play for Simon Rattle.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio are the film's stars. I play a hammy actor and, at one point, I am suspended 30 feet in the air, no less, giving an oration in defence of playing Lincoln - which is funny, given my height - while people throw fruit at me. Leo got me bang on the nose with a tomato in one take the other day.

He is very tall, you know - 6ft. They're all tall in this business, all except me and Martin Scorsese. Still, at least my height hasn't barred me playing Louis on the radio."

If he's working on the score, that excites me. He's made powerful contributions to film scores in the past, and this film is going to need a special sort of aural wallpaper to tie it all together. We'll check further into this and see if there are any other guests on the soundtrack, and whether or not we're talking about songs.

"All of Leo's choices in the next few years will be scrutinized because of Titanic. But I think The Gangs of New York is a perfect fit for him. He's the best young actor working in movies today. When you look over his entire body of work, you see his power. I always notice an actor's eyes. Leo's got fire in his eyes. It was there in Titanic and in This Boy's Life and all his early films."