I play Stephen Douglas and it’s based on the book so there’s a good idea of what’s happening there. It’s Timur Bekmambetov directing, so it’s that book processed through him, with his stamp on it. It’s sort of action, you’ve got vampires and Abraham Lincoln locked in battle. It’s all so funny, the idea’s absolutely ridiculous. So I found myself being a little bit of the ridiculous.

I’m a historical figure so I provide a lot of historical moments, so I seem to show up whenever Abraham Lincoln is making a decision; I work as his foil, you know, the other side of the argument on slavery – which you just don’t get to hear enough of. I’m in cahoots with vampires and Rufus Sewell plays the lead vampire and I haven’t worked with him since A Knight’s Tale so it’s really great working with him. And we’re on the same side, pretty much. Whenever you’re working with vampires it’s like you’ve got an attack dog. And politicians are even less trustworthy so really it’s a bad pairing.