Q: Kick off by telling us how the Counsellor's character flaws keep him from achieving his aims.
A: I play the Counsellor. His main interest is Laura, at the moment that we are introduced to him, as played by Penelope Cruz. He basically destroys that (relationship) through his necessity to feel like he needs to gather all these material objects around him; to impress her with such a diamond when he proposes to her, to drive the car he drives, to live in the apartment that he lives. So his greed for financial appearance destroys everything around him.

Q: Would you call him a classic tragic figure?
A: Yeah but in a way Laura's character is more classically tragic, she gets killed because of the people around her. It's out of her control. He is a tragic character for sure, there’s a series of events that lead him to a tragic end. That in some ways it's almost predestined.

Q: It's your second film with Ridley in a short time frame. Could you elaborate on that relationship?
A: Yeah working with Ridley on Prometheus was just an absolute joy. And it was just like picking up from there, really, when working on The Counsellor together. He's very inspiring. Hugely knowledgeable. Very inclusive, quite mischievous, and has a real sort of childlike exuberance about him. It’s an absolute privilege to work with the man. To just sort of watch him at work and to watch this talent, people that he attracts in each department. Not just the ones in front of the camera but every department, and how he works with them. It’s an absolute privilege.

Q: What is it like to dialogue with Cormac McCarthy?
A: For the most part scripts that are out there seem to be fairly formulaic. Film has become pretty formulaic in certain levels. And it's kind of interesting because it's just over a hundred years old and we seem to be stuck in this sort of format. So getting a script like The Counsellor was just absolute gold dust, it's a gem when something like that comes about because I couldn't tell what was going to happen to any of the characters by page fifteen, thirty, fifty. Usually you know what's going on the first ten pages (of a script). You know the arc of each of the characters, and you know the journey, and sort of beat for beat you've seen it before, but this was like totally fresh.

Q: How does this film reward repeat viewing as with a Blu-ray or Digital HD?
A: This will be a good film to revisit because Cormac is so clever in his delivery of information and retention of information, that there are lots of details within the film that you might miss in the first viewing. But definitely in a return visit, you start to see the textures, the layers within it, the relationships. And the nuance. It’s definitely one of those films where you see things that you miss on the first viewing.

Q: Is there one scene that's particularly rewarding for you as an actor?
A: No, I never can sort of think of that on any film really, it's just sort of each day just trying to make sure that you have explored all the avenues that I can do. It was nice to have scenes with Penelope and Javier. I've worked with Brad before, so that was great to sort of revisit that. But to work with the two of them was a real treat for me.