A LIFE IN THE DAY

Tom Hollander on sleeping pills and hugging pillows

The Bafta-award winning actor on insomnia and keeping himself entertained in between jobs

The Sunday Times
DAVE J HOGAN

Hollander, 53, was born in Bristol and raised in Oxford. He was a member of the National Youth Theatre and read English at the University of Cambridge. He has starred in films including Pride & Prejudice and Bohemian Rhapsody and currently appears in the BBC TV series Us. In 2017 he received a Bafta for his performance in the drama The Night Manager. He lives alone in Notting Hill.

I wake up generally at 3 or 4am. Not because I’m like Margaret Thatcher, but because I need to pee. I pee in the darkness using my phone screen to illuminate the target, then often take half a sleeping pill (antihistamine), turn on the World Service very quietly and try to go to sleep