Quotes from Tom Payne

So, yeah, if I could play anyone, I think it would be Black Panther.

Never in my life did I think I would be walking down the street and people would shout 'Jesus!' at me in the street. It's quite amusing.

When I was about 6 years old, I got dragged into an audition for the school play. A teacher thought it would be good for me because I liked to perform and show off.

I wasn't thinking about awards or becoming rich. I just wanted to be able to make my living by working as an actor.

There's no way I can grow a Jesus beard in a week.

I can't remember what episode it is but there's an episode of Prodigal Son' where I wake up in my underwear and, you can see, I can put the beef on!

My whole life has changed in the last three years and The Walking Dead' is no small part of that. It's changed my life and will continue to do so.

I used to love auditioning. I loved going into the room and meeting casting directors.

With something like Waterloo Road' it was a lot slower and because I had a relatively small part - I mean, my character wasn't a main - I wasn't in filming so much.

I never believe it when people claim they knew they wanted to be actors when they were 4 or 5 years old. I think that's rubbish. When you're that age, you just like showing off.

Hugh Jackman, he's so tall and big, he had to eat so much. It's like Chris Hemsworth. You have to eat so much and spend so much money on food.

I have no wish to go back to being frustrated by a character. It's really just part of being on an ongoing series. You're constantly hoping the next episode you get, something will happen for you. You're on the edge of your seat all the time, pressing your hands together and hoping that something cool will turn up.

I'm definitely an animal lover.

I think, primarily, acting is like working out a muscle; the more you get to do it, the bigger that muscle gets.

When you have that fake beard and stuff stuck on your face, you can't move your face. It's just not fun.

In my teenage years I had a very anti-cruelty orientation and all that kind of stuff, so having spent a long time at the track and around the horses and around the people that are there, I realized the saddest thing that can happen is if anything happens to a horse.

The right thing is to look after people and women and women's rights to their own bodies.

I just wanted to be part of telling a good story that shocks people.

I was a gymnast when I was younger but sadly didn't really keep it up with age.

I did a movie called 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day,' which had Frances McDormand and Amy Adams in it. It was Focus Features, an American company, and I used that as my ticket into America.

One thing I love about America is that I'm not boxed in by my upbringing here. England is still so class-based that there are certain roles that I just won't go for. I'm a middle-class boy and I won't go for the scruffy working-class role, which is frustrating, and here I can play anything.

When you don't know how to fight you tend to put all your energy into one punch. That will tire you out quickly. You learn to keep energy in reserve and use your body in an efficient manner.

When learning boxing and martial arts, there wasn't any fakery in my training. When teaching you the basics of fighting, even though it's faked for the camera, they teach you to do it for real.

The whole experience of being on The Walking Dead' is a singular experience.