I can't remember the novel that well. I don't think I picked it up when I was 12. Was the love story between your character and Sebastian [played by Ben Whishaw] there as much in the book as it is in the film?
"It's ambiguous, but yeah it's there. It's very much there. You sort of know. You're never sure just how much Charles [feels]. Does he have those feelings in a physical way towards Sebastian? We decided not in ours because it was a more interesting dynamic or like the idea of male love in a platonic one way and physical the other and then being obviously with Julia as well, the sister. Sort of like a love triangle but a love 'C' maybe. Otherwise it's weird."
And you didn't mind playing the love story?
"No, not at all. I mean, we have one tiny kiss. It's like the same as kissing a woman just slightly more stubble. So no, it's such a revered, beloved book and such advanced, intelligent characters over a 20 year period that you'd be an idiot if, when it's offered to you, you don't take it."
You do age throughout the film, although it's very subtle.
"Well I'm kind of nicely in the middle, really. I'm 30 so playing an 18 year old I think I found harder because I tried not to be too 18 year old-y. And then it's more like he just goes through stages of his life and I didn't think about his aging. As with the whole performance, what I was aiming for was subtleties. And also, you know, aging you don't really change the person. A little bit you do, but I'm sure in 10 years time I'll be exactly the same person. Maybe I'll have kids and stuff, but inside you're thinking the same things. You just look different in the mirror."
