The 5-minute Interview: Alan Davies, Comedian and actor

'I met Jennifer Aniston and she was really flirty'

Alan Davies, 41, starred in the BBC television series 'Jonathan Creek' for eight years. He is also a regular panelist on the BBC quiz show 'QI', which can be seen on DVD now

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

Well I'm in my dressing room right now so I would be working probably talking to Karen Taylor, who plays my wife in the film we are making [Angus, Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging].

A phrase I use far too often is...

"Is it lunch yet?"

I wish people would take more notice of...

People on motorbikes.

The most surprising that happened to me was...

I once met Jennifer Aniston and she was really flirty. It was about 10 years ago. She had seen some of my stand-up and she kept on saying how hilarious I was. I was really flattered.

A common misconception of me is...

One is that I'm really nice and the other is that I'm quite horrible. I never get any middle ground. The truth is that I'm quite nice and a bit horrible.

I am not a politician but...

If I was I would ban speed bumps. I guess that's not what you want to hear at The Independent. Oh, and I would stop people from eating processed meat.

I'm good at...

Eating Minstrels. I can eat an entire tub of those big ones you get at the cinema. I've done the maths on this and a whole tub of Minstrels is 1,300 calories, which is the same as two whole meals.

I'm very bad at...

Sleeping. I'll be just about to go to sleep and I'll get distracted by something.

The ideal night out is...

I love going to the pub after the Arsenal game with my mates to meet my wife and spend a lot of money on the quiz machine, then going for some nice Thai food.

In moments of weakness...

I agree to go to the QI book launch.

You know me as a comedian but in another life I'd have been...

I would have probably done something that was very attention seeking. I used to think that I was quite political and that one day I would be an MP.

The best age to be is...

I'm 41 so I think this is a pretty good age. I enjoyed 15 a lot. I saw the Jam six times, the Stranglers and the Pretenders and U2. That tells you how long U2 have been around for.

In a nutshell, my philosophy is...

When you're turning left on your bike, always have a little glance over you left shoulder. It will save your life.

Ben Naylor