I am an actor through and through.

It's nice to be asked to do good projects.

The point is to be involved in the moment.

The success of the film is down to the crew.

I don't like acting things; I like feeling things.

When you do bigger films, the financiers take more risks.

It's difficult to get films made, especially films about poets.

Fairfax was incredibly important to the shaping of the country.

Sometimes it is easier to play someone who is far away from you.

I try and do films I know I'm going to enjoy watching as well as being in.

My focus never wavered; I never accepted the film was not going to be finished.

People go to see a film because it's a great story and it's visually exciting to watch.

Sometimes you just can't walk away from films you're offered, like the Dylan Thomas thing.

Method acting is a label I don't really understand, because there's a method to everybody's acting.

Sometimes people say to you that you should try to be in a bigger film, but it's the way it pans out.

I'm doing a Dylan Thomas film, Map of Love, with Mick Jagger producing again. It's a wonderful script.

With the situation now, people might be intrigued to see how a country coped with war all those years ago.

It quite often happens that they attach a name to a project and it doesn't get all the financing it needs.

You grow up a lot in terms of your understanding of the industry and how to deal with the corporate things.

I tend to do golf charity things because it's much safer and you don't get much chance of a broken arm or leg.

I just love jumping into someone else's life. It is a relatively cheap way to experience things you would be too scared to contemplate in your own life.

I got involved in script development from the beginning. It was nice to see how a film gets made right from the beginning. It was quite hands-on for me.

Being a salesman and an actor were not that dissimilar: It is a good lesson in covering up your feelings. No one wants to buy from someone who looks depressed.

You should be careful what you wish for, as the reasons for war get confused. One person can be very clear in their motives, but others can have different agendas.

You're making a movie, not a documentary. If you made a film like the historians would like you to make, you're not going to go and see it. I'd rather see paint dry.

If the script is not so good and it is a great director you're more likely to do it. But generally speaking, my passion for a project starts or stops with the quality of the script.

When I'm playing a character like Jonathan in Ripley's Game I want to be in the moment when he's feeling pain; this very ordinary person who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances.

In terms of jumping into a characters skin, I try to immerse myself in the role as much as possible to bring me closer to them. All I do is whats required to achieve what I want to achieve.

In terms of jumping into a character's skin, I try to immerse myself in the role as much as possible to bring me closer to them. All I do is what's required to achieve what I want to achieve.

You'd have to have one hell of an imagination to completely make up a story, but historians are very anal about what they think should be portrayed on screen. Thankfully they don't make movies; we do.

What was the reason for invading Iraq' Was it a humanitarian crusade or an economic one' I would be inclined to say the latter. It was the same with the Civil War, because the landed gentry's money was being stolen by the king.

I don't have any problem working with first-time directors because all directors have to start somewhere and all great directors have had a first film. So, if you take the view that you don't want to work with a first-timer, you might miss out on a fantastic opportunity.

I read all the books on Fairfax in the British Library, did a lot of horse riding and studied military tactics of the time, finding out that he actually laid his rose garden out in strategic formations! But Method acting is a label I don't really understand, because there's a method to everybody's acting. In terms of jumping into a character's skin, I try to immerse myself in the role as much as possible to bring me closer to them. All I do is what's required to achieve what I want to achieve.

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