TOBY Jones is big news. From Hollywood to The National Theatre, he is everywhere. But will he blow his own trumpet? Will he hell.

Just getting the Oxfordshire born star to admit he’s made it is like pulling teeth.

In the past three years alone the 42-year-old’s been in The Painted Veil with Edward Norton, the Truman Capote lead in Infamous with Daniel Craig and Gwyneth Paltrow, Oliver Stone’s W. about the Bush era, and Frost/Nixon, which is creating such a frenzy at the Oscars this year.

Still to come is the Darwin biopic Creation, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in which he voices Dobby the house elf, and in 2010 a digitised baddy in Steven Spielberg's animated version of Tintin.

“Yes there does seem to be a constant stream of films at the moment featuring me, so it has been a bit hectic recently,” he says apologetically, “but I don’t like to see my career as a whole or to think that it has a pattern to it.

“That’s for other people to think about. I just like concentrating on the project I’m working on, researching it and becoming that character.”

As a result Toby is remarkably unaffected by his universal success.

He still lives in London with Karen, a barrister, and their two daughters, and commutes to the US when needed. He goes everywhere by bus and spends his spare time campaigning for the environment or working with his own theatre group. Red carpets and celebrity status don’t interest him in the slightest.

But what he is proud of is playing such a wide diversity of parts and avoiding being pigeon-holed. Take Harry Potter for example, versus the arthouse movie The Painted Veil.

“Well, Harry Potter is so beloved, and people have such a strong mental image of the characters, that you do feel a real sense of responsibility and you want to get it right for that reason,” he says.

“But it’s such a huge global thing that I try not to think about it too much,” he laughs.

“And then The Painted Veil is the kind of part I have always wanted to play because I didn’t think they made films like that anymore, so I was obviously delighted to be asked, plus you get to go on location to some wonderful places like China.”

But there must have been a point where he looked around and realised he’d really made it?

“Well, in Capote I was doing a part with so many other more experienced actors then me, who were better known than me, and it would have been easy to succumb to being over respectful of them all.

“But luckily the part I was playing, Capote, is never intimidated by anyone, so it was easy to play.”

Being born into an acting dynasty helps of course. The famous Jones clan was based in Charlbury, and more recently Lower Heyford – Toby appeared with his dad Freddie (of Emmerdale fame) in the film Ladies in Lavender, and his brother Rupert is a director, while his second brother Casper is also an actor. And while acting was always in his blood, Toby rebelled against it from the start.

“I was at Christ Church Cathedral School and then Abingdon and acted in this and that, but as a child you spend your life making sure you don’t end up doing what your parents do, and pretend that you are just trying it out until you think of something else to do, so it wasn’t until I was at drama school that I found a way to do it my way,” Toby explains.

“In fact the most rebellious thing I could have done in my family was become an accountant or something,” he laughs.

But it did mean that being an actor didn’t come as any great surprise.

“I grew up thinking it was normal not to know what was going to happen next or where or what you’d be working on.

“And if I do have a worry it’s that we as a family are now too adventurous, rather than not adventurous enough,” he says.

So he must be away a lot then, judging by his CV?

“No, I’m here most of the time,” he says. “About a year ago I was spending a lot of time in the US and I do go back frequently.

“But I’m only away two or three months a year, and as my wife is working too we are very transient and always in and out with chaotic schedules.

“There is nothing glamorous about it, it’s just normal. Although people probably think I live there because so much has come out at once.”

He means his epic work catalogue whose impressive credentials seem to gain momentum every month. “It is amazing to be working with those those kind of film directors, but the exposure can be hazardous because the more recognised you become the harder it is to disappear,” Toby says.

Disappear?

“I enjoy trying to transform myself into the characters I’m playing and I enjoy researching the role. I really get such a lot of pleasure out of that bit.”

“But ...?” I prompt.

“I don’t really like seeing myself on film. It just reminds me of the things I was trying to get across that I didn’t manage and how different the end result looks compared to what I was trying to do in the first place,” he chuckles.

“Although now I have come to accept that that’s part of the job.”

Toby is on his way to rehearsals for Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, at The National when we speak and he’s managing to squeeze in a theatre class first.

So when was the last time he sat down and had a rest?

“Oh I’m far too neurotic not to work,” he says, “so I always take on far too much and am over busy.”

So if he’s not working, how long is it before he gets the jitters?

Toby Jones bursts out laughing.

“Oh I don’t know. At least a couple of days, or a weekend perhaps?” he grins, as he disappears back into the National Theatre Studio.

Doesn’t look like there’s any chance of that then.