View from Abroad: Actor John Cryer

'If you have no money in London you end up eating in McDonald's and it seems surprisingly like America. But this time around, in the city, I'm doing a little better. You know, London doesn't have the greatest reputation for food. But, the thing is, there are plenty of great places. All the Indian restaurants are packed. Maybe that's a good reason to conquer a country, because they might come back and cook for you one day.

'I'm staying in a flat in Kennington. But it's so funny, everyone curls their lip when I tell them. Like 'Ugh]

Kennington . . . ?' Actually, it's lovely. There are tree-lined streets, a park just a block away and a Tube stop real near. I really like it. Sometimes I go into Soho. Last place I hung out in was a real fun crab restaurant in Old Compton St. They had a band playing and you can get really messy and yell a lot which is what I enjoy in life.

'During the day I do a lot of really dumb touristy stuff. In America, we just don't have the sense of history that you do here. I just love being where all this stuff really happened, like in the Tower of London.

'I read a lot. I go to those great bookshops on the Charing Cross Road. There are so many books on so many weird subjects. I think somebody should read them - it might as well be me.

I think there's a wonderful sense of community in London that I guess Londoners don't realise. I'm from New York - we don't even know our neighbours.

Jon Cryer is appearing in '900 Oneonta at the Old Vic, The Cut, Waterloo SE1. Box office: 071-928 7616

(Photograph omitted)