FIFTEEN years ago Tim Roth made the executive decision never to watch his own work.
"I know what I look like!" quips the actor, who rose to global fame with roles in Quentin Tarantino's films Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.
"Unless I get trapped – and I've been trapped in Cannes where you can't get out before – it's not for me, it's for you guys."
Stopping has made the process a lot easier, he claims: "I don't read anything that you write, I don't watch anything relating to it at all. I just move on to the next job."
Instead, the straight-talking actor, who is 56, awaits the verdict from his own personal critics.
"My kids [Roth has one son with his ex-wife and has two with his current wife] break the news to me quite often about how awful I am in something – oh, they love that!" he says with a chuckle.
"They used to watch the [US crime series] Lie To Me thing in the kitchen on the little telly in the corner. But they give me such s**t about it," he adds. "It's nice when their mates all get into something and they let you know you did all right."
So is the verdict out on his latest project, Tin Star?
"They saw the trailer the other day and they really liked it!" he says, grinning.
A Sky Original Production, Tin Star – written by acclaimed screenwriter Rowan Joffe and starring Christina Hendricks – is set to make an impression as the broadcaster's new epic, revenge-fuelled drama.
Set against the stunning backdrop of the Canadian Rockies in the idyllic but troubled small town of Little Big Bear, the cinematic thrill follows recovering alcoholic and police officer Jim Worth (Roth) and his family as they embark on a new life in the mountains. But tranquillity is short-lived as the arrival of workers from a new oil refinery leads to a wave of drugs, prostitution, organised crime and a horrific result for the family.
It was a page-turner Roth, despite his protests, simply couldn't put down.
"I wasn't looking for it. I didn't want it," confides the Bafta-winning Londoner, who was dubbed part of the 'Brit Pack' after migrating to Hollywood along with the likes of Gary Oldman – with whom he starred in the 1990 Tom Stoppard comedy-drama, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead – and Daniel Day-Lewis in the 80s.
"I'd done television before and I wasn't looking for another one, but I thought it had an insanity about it and an anarchy about the character that I thought would be fun to play. And so I went for it."
Referring to Jim as having a 'Jekyll and Hyde vibe', Roth reveals he had to play "very different versions of the same man".
"There is a monstrous confusion to the character that I think is fun to play," he elaborates. "But there are common denominators that anchor him however wild he goes: his wife and daughter (played by Genevieve O'Reilly and Abigail Lawrie, respectively) are the gravity of his whole character.
"One of the most powerful things about the show is the family dynamic," he adds. "As wild as it gets, that is what holds it together."
However, it wasn't until he landed on set in Calgary that he understood why Jim and others in his profession would be seduced by the lifestyle.
"Local policemen would come up and say hello and they'd be from Yorkshire," Roth begins. "There is an open-door policy for policemen who work in England to go and work there when they've just had enough of this, and we did meet them – although they were armed to the f**king teeth, a lot of them.
"Mostly what they deal with is drunk drivers and breaking up fights. It's an easier option than what they've been through."
Did working in the Rockies come with its own set of challenges?
"The altitude for me was a challenge. Some people don't really get hit by it, but the pressure change was hard. And you could see the Chinooks – oh man, you could see these different weather systems coming in and that was scary," he recalls.
"But we were always busy. When you weren't busy, that's when it got to you," he says. "You really just needed to be busy the whole time and work through the week."
Does the long-time Californian resident, who in recent years has bagged credits such as Twin Peaks, Rillington Place and Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, see himself predominantly as a big screen actor?
"Well, that snobbery between TV and film has gone now," says Roth. "I think that attitude disappeared very quickly in Britain. I think we were the first ones to do it –we had Ken Loach and all of those guys so that was the high end for us.
"But this is the first time I have done a continuous series with evolving episodes. You have to think about the whole arc of the character, which is very difficult. But it does feel like you are growing as you go – like, what the hell are you going to do next?
"That is the excitement that should be in play for the audience and also for the actors as we discover where we are going. It is tricky," he concludes, "[But] I think that it is a fascinating format."
If Marvel fans were hoping to one day see Roth reprise his Incredible Hulk role as the Abomination, however, he'd rather they didn't get their hopes up.
"I got quoted recently as saying 'I don't think I'll ever do it'," he says, with a laugh. "I just don't see it happening again, but it can happen if they want me!
"It's the Marvel Universe now so it's tricky, [but] I know what they were planning for the Abomination. I know how they would do it, I just don't think it will end up being part of what they want.
"I could be completely wrong," he adds, smiling. "It would be a laugh – I'd have a go, oh yeah!"
:: Tin Star will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV from Thursday September 7.
