The Libertine team is on red-alert as we await the start of our widely anticipated interview with one of the most charming, good-looking, hilarious young talents of British TV. Instead, Robert Sheehan has turned up, so here’s our best attempt at making a readable interview…

You’ve starred in films alongside people like Sean Bean and, recently, Nicholas Cage. What’s it like working with these seasoned actors?

It helps me up my game on set when I know there’s someone with an Oscar in the cabinet about a metre away. And when you’re doing a scene with someone like Sean you kind of feed off of the other person’s skill. It’s not like you look worse by comparison. Or maybe I do, I’ve got no idea to be honest.

What else are you involved in?

Yeah, I’ve got loads of stuff – which is great. I’m doing a film in Dublin called Back to Jack and Kirsten Sheridan is directing that. Then another film called Wayfaring Strangers which has been written and directed by a guy called Stephen Bradley and I’m working on that with Cillian Murphy and Micheal Gambon. Its World War II, set in France, that sort of thing. Epic…hopefully.

Do you think it’s a problem that a lot of the big names in cinema are type casted into roles and end up playing the same part again and again?

Yeah, I do think it’s a problem. As an actor, you’re supposed to be flexible – ready to do new things. Being ‘type casted’ stops you developing. But I do meet a lot of older actors who say ‘that’s what I do, if you don’t like it f*** off’. So I suppose, that’s just a decision you have to make.

What accents can you do? Can you do an Irish accent?

Ha-ha. But actually, I did have some guy come up to me on the street the other day in Dublin and say ‘Oi, Mate – your Irish accent is shit’.

How do people ‘across the pond’ react to your…Irishness?

Well, I was in Los Angeles last year and I swear to god that no one could understand a word I was saying.

What? Just kidding, what were you saying?

Well everyone I talked to just kind of looked at me with these blank faces. It was like I was speaking a different language or something. But that’s the thing with different cultures. I mean, the Americans – the way they talk just lacks a bit of good old Irish lyricism.

Do you ever speak in limericks?

Yes, and I always wear green and I have a pet leprechaun. Actually, I think you’re taking the Irish thing a bit far. Really. I’m beginning to get offended.

Sorry. But anyway, let’s talk about slang. Why do you think that new words seem to make their way into our vocabulary so easily?

I guess that English is just a language that is constantly evolving. I mean, popular culture definitely influences the way we speak. Look at people like Russell Brand. On the surface, he’s just a bit of a git. But if you think about it, he’s a linguistic pioneer…you swine.

Do you think that you’re ready for your first celeb-autobiography?

Yes, and I’d call it ‘Don’t read this – it’s pointless. Nothing interesting has even happened so far?’. I mean, look at Jade Goody – why did she have to go and write two for God’s sake?

Hey hey hey…don’t start on Jade. This is Libertine, not Hello magazine. Anyway, she was about to kick the bucket. If she was going to write an autobiography, let’s just say she was pressed for time.

Fair enough.

So, let’s talk about social issues. We love that stuff.

Ah yes, social issues.

Do you have any?

Ha.

No, seriously though. Do you think that Misfits hits on any particular aspect of modern life for the teenager?

Actually, I think that the good thing about Misfits is that is doesn’t make any claims about teenagers and the choices they make. There’s a degree of honesty that goes into the writing and I really think that comes across. I don’t want to start getting pompous and comparing it to French cinema but –

Bit late mon ami. You’ve just made the comparison…

Well that’s just my two cents, as it were. I think what French Cinema did, with films like La Haine, is give a portrayal of youth without worrying too much about how it would be received. They just did it.

Are there any other actors in your family?

Nobody else in my family is in the ole’ movie industry except for myself. My mother is a registrar – a birth and death registrar in the Midlands. My dad is a retired policeman. My brother has his own fitness shop.

Are you on his fitness programme?

Why, are you saying I need to be?

Not at all. What’s the most difficult acting-related thing you’ve had to do?

I’ve had to do a lot of dark things actually. I did a short film called ‘The Poor Creature’ in Irish a few years ago. I played the brother of a paraplegic. And in the end I had to drown him – the guilt had become too much, and my character couldn’t stand living in his brother’s shadow any more.

On a scale of one to disturbing, thats pretty much disturbing. How does it affect you when you take on a role like that?

Well, when I’m playing a serious role I like to get myself in the appropriate state of mind. But sometimes you just get in such a distressed state, that it takes a while to come out of.

Ok, enough with the dark stuff. Anything really embarrassing?

In the Red Riding Trilogy I had to give a guy head.

[Giggles] Did you actually do it?

No. All ‘Magic of Cinema’ stuff. The cameras swing around the guy’s ass and you just see my head bopping up and down. I had a mouthful of watered yoghurt and… well. You can imagine. With 25 people standing around you, it’s not exactly the most comfortable way to spend five hours.

Did your mum watch it?

God no. I don’t let her watch any of the darker stuff.

So, keeping on the subject of sex scenes…just talk us through the granny-sex shenanigans in Misfits…

Well, obviously it was weird shooting that scene altogether. But..oh god. It was so bad. This 77-year old woman fell off the bed at one point, and hit her head on the sideboard. It was grim, but she was fine and… well…sometimes you just have to get back on the horse.

Is that what you tell your girlfriend? What the hell were you doing to this grandma anyway?

Nothing. It was an accident. Honest.

Don’t try your Irish charm on me.

Stop it with the Irish thing.

Are you shocked by how well Misfits has done?

Yeah, it’s unbelievable actually. I always knew it was a good script, but I really didn’t anticipate that it would go down so well with people.

But your character Nathan isn’t exactly a typical hero is he? I mean, he’s kind of a Marmite kind of guy…

Well, Misfits is very well written and most of the characters are really well rounded. And my character – Nathan – treads that very fine line between love and hate. Sometimes I even annoy myself when I’m playing Nathan. I feel like slapping myself and just saying ‘God, chill out a bit. Maybe just shut up!’.

But even though he can be a little frustrating sometimes, I have to say that Nathan’s speech in the last episode was pretty epic.

I think that he did touch on something serious actually. I mean, there are some people who like a life full of order and then there are people who like to be chaotic and anarchic and like to live their lives in a mess. It’s just an updated form of anti-establishment feeling.

You might say it was pretty…Libertine.

Yeh, maybe [rolls eyes]

Do you live your life like that?

What, chaotic and anarchic? Oh yeh, definitely. All over the place.

Where do you think the film industry is heading? Crass sensationalism or intelligent cinema?

As far as feature films go, I think that there’s a huge market for things that challenge your perspective. On the one hand – there’s the Hollywood Formula: you know what you’re going to get. Then, there are the stories that really mean something and say something new. Like Avatar. Obviously the special effects had a lot to do with that film’s success, but I think it was also something to do with the fact that it had a great deal of social relevance.

Fair enough. But, I mean, I like Avatar as much as the next dork…but don’t you think that the story has already been told? Fern Gully? Dancing with Wolves? It’s just the same thing, no?

I guess, but there are a certain amount of stories that just have to be retold. Shakespeare has been copied thousands of times, because there are so few universal themes. I mean, when it comes to film, you’re bound to get some plagiarism.

At the other end of the spectrum, how do you think low-budget films have a shot of success?

They may not be able to compete in terms of CGI, but [looks deep and contemplative] I truly believe that the human aspect of a film will always be the most important.

Did you get that from Spiderman?

[Laughs hysterically at the reference]. No.

Carry on.

I just think there are some action films, where the main character isn’t even convincing. The whole story falls apart if you don’t care what happens to the main characters. The most important thing in cinema is for the audience to feel involved in the story, to create a connection.

It seems every other film is about vampires and apocalypses.

They’re catering for a specific audience, and well done to them.

The main protagonist in Twilight for example, is just a self-centered bitch…is this the new role model for today’s youth?

Well there are masses of shows and films in America – where all these young people just sit there and complain about their ‘awful lives’. I mean, the OC or The Hills or something – these rich, good-looking young people are suddenly our generation’s heroes. That’s sick, really.

What do you think about contemporary comedy?

There are so many shows where people just waffle on and on and on. It’s flabby comedy – when you could say something that took you 4 minutes in one second. Clever comedy, clever writing – that always succeeds in the end.

Would you ever do stand up?

You need balls of brass. I mean, in America, we went to this comedy lounge and you just watch these people – one after the other – just die on stage. And you just shudder. You’re thinking – that’s just a statement, that’s nothing funny. Get off the stage. Shut the fuck up and get on with it.

Do you think that there’s a culture of just trying to get cheap laughs?

Comedy is really complex – it has to be completely reinvented every few years. I think in Misfits the comedy works because everything else is so dramatic and serious. When a character, or a whole show, tries too hard to be funny is when it fails to do so.

Well we’re out of time, by which I mean you are. Good luck with everything, it’s been a pleasure. Don’t forget your lucky charms!

[Storms out angrily]

Photography by Grant Thomas

Styling by Genevieve Garner

Hair & Make Up by Celia Burton

Clothing by Best Vintage