In Steven Mangan’s latest piece for The Guardian, the Green Wing actor takes us through his pre-match thoughts as he prepares to go on stage to perform Jeeves & Wooster: Perfect Nonsense winner of best comedy at this year's Olivier awards, and is currently playing with a new cast.

Stephen ManganStephen Mangan photographed leaving ITV studios

It’s both nerve-racking and thrilling to know that any minute the curtain's going to go up, and all those people are suddenly going to go quiet and stare at you. But after six months of doing the same show eight times a week, the bigger challenge is getting yourself into exactly the same mental state every night,” writes Mangan.

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And by the time the show has finished “I'm usually in a pretty grim state,” Mangan adds. “I'm drenched in sweat – I've spent two hours running around, leaping over beds and windows, in a three-piece suit and overcoat. It's a great workout – I've lost a stone and a half – but it's exhausting. With tragedy, you come off feeling exhilarated. But with comedy, you have to throw out a huge amount of energy. You work your arse off, basically – and if it's a matinee, you have to do it all again in a few hours' time.”

Mangan’s career has skyrocketed since his role in Channel 4’s hospital based comedy. Since then, he’s gone on to star as Postman Pat in the characters latest reboot, and is even being mentioned amongst Benedict Cumberbatch, Matt Smith, Damian Lewis and Henry Cavill, although having played the iconic postie, he feels 007 would be a step backwards in his career.

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“Once you have done Postman Pat, Bond is a step backwards,” the 46-year-old actor told The Guardian at the Digital Theatre and CinemaLive premiere of Sir Richard Eyre’s production of Ghosts at the Empire Leicester Square. “There have been about, what, seven Bonds, and there have only been three people ever playing Postman Pat, so it is a much more exclusive club that I belong to.”