Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I could live in a community like 'Fortitude.'
It's a real luxury to be able to develop with your character.
Did it ever occur to you that there might be more than one alternative?
I met David Croft. He was a man of few words. But he had great charisma.
I was fascinated by the world. I thought, "I just want to be a part of this world."
When you're working with really good actors, it raises your own game and you get better.
In scale, 'Fortitude' is just as big as 'Game of Thrones.' It's equally as epic - it's just starting out.
When you read something that good, it's terrifying because you're thinking, "Oh, god, what if I don't get this?"
Having a weapon like that means you're pretty much in control of events. Nobody's going to argue with a flaming sword.
I think, as a writer, you see the big picture, and as an actor, you're thinking of all the minutiae, all the very small details.
When I was 16, my friends were in a drama group, and they asked me to join. I said no, I'm not interested, that it's not really for me.
Sometimes you even start to sound like the character because you're living and breathing them every day on the set. It gets into your bones.
'Fortitude' is like the world in microcosm. It's like watching America or Russia, only you're isolated. Once you're inside, you can't escape.
Sometimes you even start to sound like the character, because you're living and breathing them every day on the set. It gets into your bones, it becomes a part of you.
There was that sense that as soon as a Northern Irish person opens their mouth, you go, 'Ah, terrorist,' so I refused to do TV and film. Instead, I did theatre for 20 years.
If you close one eye and imagine a bright light constantly in front of the other eye, your vision is compromised. You can only see about 30 percent of what you should be able to see.
So much Western storytelling comes from Scandinavia. I've read that in the past, storytellers would travel to Iceland and exchange stories. It's kind of the birthplace of great storytelling.
The first director I ever worked with on 'Thrones,' he had a big hand in casting me. He said he cast me because there was a bit of an Alec Guinness about me, but a very dangerous Alec Guinness.
As soon as people really get into the swamp - the scary swamp that is 'Fortitude' - there's no getting out of it. You need about six to seven episodes in to really go, 'This is what it's about.'
A lot of the time, because of the polar bears you're not allowed to go outside the door without your hunting rifle, even if it's to go to the local shop. The polar bears will come from nowhere, and you'll be eaten alive.
As a writer you see the big picture and how you can tell as one character, how your storyline is going to meet up with all these other storylines. And as an actor you're thinking of all the minutiae, all the very small details.
I grew up with the idea that someone might hate you if they knew what religion you were; being afraid to open my mouth because my accent might make people think something about me. Or even if they didn't, would they understand me?
Gene Roddenberry is one of the greatest guys who ever lived because he gave us hope that the future might be bright and we could accept one another for whoever we were, even if we were alien. That's an amazing message, don't you think?
I had an outfit that was designed for minus 30 degrees, so I had to work with costume to strap ice packs all over me because I was boiling, even out on the glacier. I was constantly trying to unzip it and take off the hat. I was just sweating. I found it very hot.
When you get out onto a glacier that's the size of Northern Ireland and it's so vast, and you're standing on top of it and you can see forever, it's so pure and clear that you can see for miles and miles and miles. You really do think, "Wow, there is a god!" You feel very humbled.
I think the benefit of being a writer is that I'm looking for the subtext on the page, because all good writing has subtext. And as a writer, you look at the big scope of things, the big story, rather than just your individual story line, because I think it's important to know what you're in and how you fit into it.