Fraser bedazzled by West-End

I studied Tennessee Williams's Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in college - but I didn't appreciate Williams until I started seeing British actors' productions of his work. Here there seems more of an understanding of the ideas behind the play, rather than just the characters, and that makes it more of an art-based event.

From the little I know of Williams, he was in a bad way when he wrote most of his plays - that's reflected in a lot of his characters. So playing Brick - Paul Newman's original stage and film role - is a challenge. You can never get it entirely right. But to me, it's not about that - all you can hope to do is get close to what Williams was after. And it's wonderful to be appearing opposite the Maggie "The Cat" Pollit of Frances O'Connor, my screen co-star from Bedazzled.

I haven't done a play since John Patrick Shanley's comedy Four Dogs And A Bone at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in 1995. I almost did a few small pieces off Broadway, but I didn't hunger for the pieces.

Appearing in the theatre in London fulfils an aspiration of mine from when I saw The Mousetrap when I was a little kid and Oliver! and Jesus Christ Superstar, all in the Seventies. This has always been where I would try to come once a year to see shows. From what I can see, there seems to be a more supportive environment than in the States. At the same time, this is the Mecca of acting. It's where the best work, in my opinion, has always originated - after the Greeks.