Lean green acting machine

In Hollow Man I play a scientist - part of a team involved in a top-secret project to develop technology to make someone invisible. Our leader, played by Kevin Bacon, uses himself as a guinea pig - and as an invisible man, starts to lose grip of his sanity and begins terrorising his colleagues. That's when I have to get tough and face up to him.

Ironically, acting opposite Kevin's character was made easier because he was there on set, even though he was meant to be invisible. For the special effects they painted him green or blue or black, and he had contact lenses on, which he couldn't see through very well, and a tooth guard, so it was really awful for him. It took three hours to put this stuff on - he had a difficult experience doing it, but for the rest of us it was great. I think it makes the film better because you feel his presence - the fact that he was really there.

Unfortunately for me, about halfway through filming I ripped my Achilles tendon, which is probably one of the most painful injuries you can have. The worst thing was having to tell everybody about it. I knew it was going to disrupt a big film and the lives of the other actors, which upset me - especially because this is the kind of role I'd always wanted to play. I'd always been jealous of the stuff Sigourney Weaver got to do, and this was my opportunity.

I grew up with three brothers, so I spent a lot of time competing with guys. In our family one of the main ways you got attention was to score goals and win games, so it's a whole side of my personality that I never got to express in a movie before. Now I've done it, I'd love to do some more.