 As an actor there's no autonomy, unless you're prepared to risk the possibility of starving. |
| The many many imponderables come together when a film opens and for all sorts of reasons it may or may not succeed. |
| When Attenborough asked me to do Gandhi it was almost like stepping off one boat and stepping on to another, even though both boats are going at 60 miles per hour. |
| The trick is to try and justify every word on the page and make sure my character is the man who would say that. |
| Movie magic is movie magic and acting magic is acting magic. |
| That hunger of the flesh, that longing for ease, that terror of incarceration, that insistence on tribal honour being obeyed: all of that exists, and it exists everywhere. |
| I have never felt bereft of anything. |
| If your best friend has stolen your girlfriend, it does become life and death. |
| One of the greatest things drama can do, at it's best, is to redefine the words we use every day such as love, home, family, loyalty and envy. Tragedy need not be a downer. |
| I do remember, as a child, that I always imagined, when I was maybe 6 or 7, my fantasy was that everywhere I went I was being followed by an invisible film crew. |
| I have a rather naive approach, I think, to my job. |
| I think I'm more bonded, emotionally and in a craft sense, to films that tell extraordinary stories about extraordinary destinies. |
| There have not been any troughs as regards my work. There's never been a trough of my assurance. |
| All the great writers root their characters in true human behaviour. |
| I would like to make it known, on this program, loud and clear, that I would absolutely embrace with all five of my arms being a Bond villain. |
| It is better for me to serve a charity as an actor or a voice, rather than at a luncheon being just a celebrity. |
| I think that all of us either lose touch with the child inside us or try and hold onto it because it so precious to us and it's such an extraordinary part of our lives. |
| I think Romeo and Juliet is uplifting. That's how much a son wishes to avenge his father. That is how much two young people can love each other. |
| I'm convinced that had I not changed my name, I don't think I would have had quite the same career curve that I eventually had. |
| The hierarchy of class in London was rigid. It was like a religion. It still is to a certain extent. |
