Mark Strong: It's fantastic if you don't know who I am

24 May 2021, 18:39 | Updated: 25 May 2021, 14:04

By Radio X

The actor spoke to Chris Moyles about his upcoming role in Disney's Cruella and explained why he loves only being known for his work.

Mark Strong is happy that the world doesn't necessarily immediately know his name. The actor - who has starred in everything from theatre productions of A View From The Bridge to Hollywood smash Kick-Ass - is an incredibly famous face, but he likes the fact he's more known for his roles than his name.

"That's just the way I like it," he told Chris Moyles. As an actor, you want to be your characters. That's who you want to be."

He continued: "When I started out, it was all about mystery, you know. You wanted to have some kind of mystery so that people would believe you as other characters.

"But now with social media and everything, everything is out there and that worries me slightly... So if you don't know who I am and you only know me for my work, fantastic."

The Cruella actor added: "Obviously when you start out as an actor, you just want to play good parts. That's all I really wanted to do. I didn't want people to be able to recognise me in the street."

Strong was also the voice behind the NHS adverts during the coronavirus pandemic.

He told Moyles: "It was good to just be able to do something useful at a time when we were all kind of stuck at home, and every time I'd turn the radio on I'd hear the world falling apart.

"So to be able to help in any sort of tiny way was a great thing."

Strong also praised both Emma Thompson and Emma Stone, who he stars alongside in Disney's upcoming prequel, Cruella.

He gushed: "I spent all my time on set with the two Emmas, both of whom are hysterical and really great fun and genuinely really lovely people, so I had a wonderful time doing it."

Cruella is out on Disney+ and in cinemas from Friday 28 May.