"I like the idea of giving the audience the option to make up its mind as to what is going on," he said.

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Young has produced dramatized videos of his songs—some, like "Come On," which dramatizes an affecting and, ultimately, uplifting story; others, such as "Jealousy," artistic, nuanced, and thought-provoking; and still others, including "Leave Right Now," not necessarily susceptible to easy interpretation but at once touching and funny.

Videos of concert and acoustic versions of the same songs allow listeners to experience the music in a completely different way.

Reviewing a 2009 London concert, Lisa Verrico stated that Young "almost fools you into thinking that he's playing an intimate set at a bar, rather than a 4,000-seater venue," further observing that "his sweetly soulful vocals" drew cheers and that "[h]is cover of 'Light My Fire' was surprisingly seductive and the inventive ad-libbing showed how far he had come from Pop Idol."

Young told Lucy Cavendish of The Times of London in 2011 that he saw the success of "Leave Right Now" in 2003 as a turning point in his career: "I think that song brought me a different audience. It's what really sent my career into orbit. Up until then I was wondering which direction I was going in, and then . . . that song, although I didn't like it at first. . . . It was cross-generational."

By breaking out of the "pop idol" image Young, who consistently acknowledges his gratitude to the show that launched his career, has established himself as a serious vocal artist.

Young has also pursued an acting career, appearing in the 2005 BBC film Mrs. Henderson Presents (directed by Stephen Frears) and on stage in a 2007 production of Sir Noël Coward's The Vortex.

"It was a gamble rather than logical casting by the director, Jo Combes" to choose Young, wrote Lynne Walker in The Independent of Young's role in The Vortex. But, she allowed, "In many ways Young is perfect for the part of Nicky Lancaster, the spoilt, heroin-shooting boy, emotionally adrift from his resigned father and flighty mother, and weary of the nebulous life he's drowning in. . . . His slightly fey mannerisms convey just about enough of the complex sexuality of his latently homosexual role. . . ."

Young subsequently appeared in a television movie adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (2010, directed by Tom Shankland) and the British series Bedlam (2011), a supernatural drama set in an apartment building that was once a mental hospital.

Young has used his celebrity to support worthy causes dear to his heart. Of particular interest to him is helping people suffering from depression since his twin brother, Rupert, has long been subject to it and made at least one suicide attempt because of that condition, which was exacerbated by an addiction to alcohol.

Young acknowledged to Paul English of the Daily Record in 2008 that he too was "prone to bouts of mild depression" but, after three years of therapy, had "ways to get over it." His revelation of a susceptibility to depression comes as no surprise to fans of his music, since his performances frequently convey a melancholic affect.