The 5-Minute Interview: Ron Moody, actor

'When a baby is born, everything that came before it is justified'

Ron Moody, 82, is best known for his role as Fagin in the musical Oliver! He is currently playing Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at Cardiff's New Theatre with the Wales Theatre Company.

If I weren't talking to you right now I'd be ...

Writing my new book. I'm writing most of the time. I love getting up in the morning with nothing else to do except write.

A phrase I use far too often is ...

With my children it's "be quiet", "shut up" or "stop hitting each other".

I wish people would take more notice of ...

The environment. If we destroy the biosphere then mankind will die. We all waste our time worrying about stupid wars and petty jealousy and greed and all the time we're sitting on a time bomb.

The most surprising thing that ever happened to me was ...

Watching my daughter being born. I was actually present.

It happened late, when you were 73 ...

I never thought about settling down. I was obsessed with my career - I was blinkered. I finally met a woman who was worthy of me. Then we settled down and had many children. I had to meet this partner and have these particular children. When a baby is born everything that came before it is justified.

A common misperception of me is ...

That I'm a bit crackers. They called me Mad Moody when I was at school.

I'm not a politician but ...

I'd throw all the lorries out of London. I'd stop the congestion charge. It's a way of fleecing the public - it's disgraceful. And I'd stop selling arms to potential enemies.

I'm good at ...

Writing. I love writing. And making people laugh.

But I'm very bad at ...

Domestic stuff - cooking and all the other things I don't want to do. Do something badly if you don't want to do it.

The ideal night out is ...

It's changed. It used to be going out for dinner with friends at a good restaurant. But now it's a day out with the kids going to Kew or a stately home or a park somewhere playing games.

In moments of weakness ...

I stop depressive behaviour and try to rise above things as soon as it is possible.

You know me as an actor, but in a truer life I'd have been a ...

I wanted to be a professor of sociology at LSE. I was at LSE for five years - probably the happiest years I ever spent. I didn't want to leave but I was already doing shows.

The best age to be is ...

The age you're at because that's what you are. Make the most of it. Every age has got problems and compensations.

In a nutshell, my philosophy is this ...

The world is always reinventing itself, and so should you. I used to say "I haven't started yet". Sadly, most people don't develop their potential.

Elisa Bray