Changing face of Brother John

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the fourth film I have made with the Coen Brothers after Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski.

I play a fugitive from a chain gang during the Great Depression. The opening title says it's based on Homer's Odyssey but I don't think it started out like that. Joel and Ethan mentioned an idea to me years ago about convicts with shaved heads, just an image they had - they take inspiration from many different sources.

It's very relaxed on set, because they're so disciplined and focused - and then you can have a lot of fun coming up with some little idea. I had these dirty teeth made so that my jaw was jutting out, and they enjoy details like that.

I'm often asked why I like working with the same people. Well, it's a relief. When you start a new job every three months, it's not easy. Sometimes people are polite until you start shooting. Then you see what they're like and it's, "Oh my God!" I've worked with some real dictators.

With Joel and Ethan, I want to please them, to make them laugh. And they laugh a lot. That's a big part of being a good director: being a good audience. I've just made The Luzhin Defence in which I play this chess player who falls in love with Emily Watson. I've been working more with women recently: The Man Who Cried, with Cate Blanchett, and Two Thousand And None, opposite my wife, Katherine Borowitz.

There are two kinds of movie actors. Some can get by doing the same thing: playing a character that's close to their own personality. Others are more chameleon-like - and I'm one of those.