The US star discusses preparing for his role, reading the Bible on the beach and the practicalities of an outfit that boasts 33 buttons.

Can you describe your character?

Father Jude is the classic example of someone who cares so deeply that, in order to make it through life, he's become a jaded cynic. The idea of a cynical priest was really interesting to me. He's very biting, super smart and caustic. He's the bad boy of the Vatican. BINGO! We have a winner. Bad boy of the Vatican.

Was there any research you could do for the role? The Devil's Advocate used to be a real position at the Vatican, didn't it?

The Devil's Advocate was a real thing. There are benchmarks in actor's careers. Play a cop? Tick. Cowboy? Tick. Priest? I hadn't done that. So that was one of the fun things about this role. Then I loved the research and learning the history of the Devil's Advocate. The office existed for 400 years prior to it being disbanded by Pope John Paul II. This part also gave me the good excuse that I had needed for a long time to sit down and read the Bible cover to cover. Over the years I'd read parts of it, but there are certain things you need to read in your lifetime, the Shakespearean canon, the Bible... It was quite fun sitting out on the beach over Christmas reading the Bible, people must have thought ooh, Rob Lowe,
he's a very pious man.

How are you finding the priest's outfits? You look very at home in the collar...

Thank you. I love wearing this, it's a striking look. Let's face it, the Italians know what they're doing. Learning all of the ways one must wear the uniform but can also make it their own with some fashion personality was interesting. Wearing the cassock, you learn some interesting things - there are 33 buttons on the front, by the way - it's not very much fun doing 33 buttons to go to the bathroom. But there are 33 buttons, each one for a year that Christ lived. Facts like that are endless, which I love. I love history and I love tradition, so this is a world I absolutely adore being a part of.

The other thing about Father Jude is that it's a very verbal part. His love of language and use of language is a big hallmark of the character, he speaks in big arias a lot, and I always love that challenge. You don't often get to do that on television. You find it in theatre and sometimes in movies, we got to do it on The West Wing from time to time.

And Father Jude has some secrets he's hiding...

Any character worth playing has got their secrets. The way they're revealed throughout the course of the show is very interesting, and they're not what you would expect. His childhood and the life that he led before joining the church are really interesting. And all of that directly affects the plot, not just his character. Interestingly from that, there are elements and shades that I've not had a chance to play before and, at this point in my career, that becomes rarer and rarer.

What can you tell us about Father Jude's relationship with Celine?

Jude has to have an assistant as the caseloads of people claiming to be the second coming explode due to the upcoming apocalypse. The relationship with Sister Celine is a beautifully complicated intellectual courtship that, eventually, threatens to become a physical courtship. We get to explore whether you can put a price on faith and whether faith can overcome human nature, and all of these great big lofty and fun, unsolvable themes.

So what attracted you to You, Me And The Apocalypse as a whole?

It's truly epic. It's multi-continent, multinationality. You have Vatican priests, English bankers, the president, a white supremacist - it's a truly epic scope of characters. The tone of the writing is what drew me in. It's unlike anything I've ever read. First of all, it's a compelling page-turner, you are absolutely taken into a world where there are 34 days until it's over. What do you do with your life? Do you go to work? Why? Do you go and get your money from the bank? But money's not going to be worth anything. Do you have that affair you've always wanted to have? If you've been sober your whole life, do you start drinking? Literally, everything is on the table for human behaviour. And the way that's examined is so witty and clever and yet full of drama in a mix that is very hard to come by.

How would you describe the show?

A bold end-of-the-world drama told with subversive biting wit.

Is there, perhaps, a 'burden' with being known as a good-looking actor and the types of roles you tend to be offered? Have you swayed more towards these types of character roles to escape that?

All actors, and all people, are pigeon-holed by how they look. The first way we perceive someone is in their eyes. If you're an older actor you're going to play older parts, and if you're younger, vice versa. Traditional romantic leading parts sometimes do have a propensity to be boring, hence my love of coming in and doing Dr Startz or Eddie Nero. Or, in The Interview, playing an alternate universe version of myself who's bald. Those roles are flashy and more fun. The goal is to get to the point where you can do both, I would never want to give up the ability to do the types of roles my heroes, like Redford, Newman and Beatty, played. They were romantic leading man and great actors who played great parts, but were often ignored for their acting, unfortunately.

You, Me And The Apocalypse begins 34 days before the end of the world. If you received news like that, what would you do with your final days?

I'm afraid my answer is probably going to be boring, and I've obviously thought about this because it's the theme of the show. I would be with my wife and sons and we would do the things we do whenever we have time together. We'll surf, go out on our boat and fish, watch TV, laugh, I'll smoke a cigar by the outdoor fireplace with them and the dogs nearby. Those are my favourite things to do. I wouldn't be going to Machu Picchu.

And if you were given the option to go into a bunker to try to survive the end of the world, would you take it?

Oh yeah, I'm nothing if not a survivor.

Your career has been so prolific and varied between film and TV. Is there a role you're most proud of?

The good news is there are a number of them to choose from. Sam Seaborn in The West Wing, the doctor in Behind The Candelabra, JFK in Killing Kennedy and, you know who else I love? Chris Traeger in Parks And Recreation. Sam Seaborn aside, all of those roles have fallen in the last year and a half, and that's a nice indication of the range I'm able to work within today.

And you've worked with so many big names both on and off screen. What's the most important piece of advice you've ever been given?

Boy oh boy. Oh, of course, Cary Grant [does impression]: Never have a picture taken when you're eating, because inevitably there'll be a picture of you with a hot dog in your mouth. So if I'm going somewhere like the Golden Globes, I never eat. I have a simple rule in life, if it was good enough for Cary Grant, it's good enough for me.

How do you think that the industry has changed since you started out?

We obviously didn't have social media when I started out, and I don't know if it's good or bad. You used to be able to open a movie and, even if it was terrible, if the people in charge of releasing it got it right, you could get a decent opening weekend out of it. Now if it's terrible, people in the theatre at the first showing are tweeting this is awful. Today, word of mouth has become exponentially squared, so if you do something that people like, the success and notoriety happens overnight, and vice versa.

Obviously those are both good and bad. Sometimes I think it's better to toil away gaining credibility and notoriety as you go, rather than being blown out there without the experience or ability to endure. The good news, and the bad news, is that anybody can make a movie today. Anybody can cook, but you don't necessarily want to eat everything.

So why should Sky 1 viewers tune in to You, Me And The Apocalypse?

There has been no shortage of movies about the end of the world and I don't know one that ever had any real intelligence behind it, both in terms of the construction of the story, the characters that are in it, and its point of view. They're always very cartoony or very overwrought, and that's all they're cooking for you - gross, dirty and depressing or bombastic, jingoistic, machismo and dunderhead. That's sort of where it is. You, Me And The Apocalypse is unlike anything I've ever read because it's so realistic, thoughtful, human and sweet, yet carries all of the inherent drama of deciding what to do with the last 34 days of your life.