Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I've been into lots of auditions, and I'm sure I've lost a lot of jobs through that because I'm pretty dreadful at reading.
You can't follow another actor's performance. You can't be Robert DeNiro, because you're not Robert DeNiro, and, you know, he is.
I had no intention of being an actor. I was quite good at it. I was pretty capable at other things but never any good at anything.
The thought of being in space, and kind of enclosed, I find would be very claustrophobic. I think I would panic in that situation.
My first professional role was in 'Romeo and Juliet,' and I played Tybalt, who was Romeo's enemy, in a small production of that in the U.K.
I've been fortunate enough to travel the world because of my career, but the downside has been spending long spells apart from my daughters.
Tolkien was quite a religious man, and so is George R.R. Martin. They kind of have this epic quality about them when they write the material.
I think we have a perception of transvestites all being the same, as one block. It's not one mass or tribe. Everybody's got a different story.
I bought a Jaguar when I was 28. I'd always wanted one. I had it for years, then my friend had it, then my dad had it. It was a good workhorse.
For some reason, the parts I play, like Boromir or Ned Stark, have a life online long afterwards. I keep seeing - what do you call them - memes?
I did a film called 'Patriot Games' with Harrison Ford, and we actually shot three different versions of my death. And they settled on the third.
I think Daniel Craig is brilliant as Bond. I remember at the beginning, they were all saying, 'Oh, he won't work,' and I thought, 'Yeah, you watch.'
Usually you tend to glean much more information about your character from what other people say about you, rather than how it's described in the books.
Listen to people and treat people as you find them. There's an inherent goodness in most people. Don't pre-judge people - that was me Mam's advice anyway.
Of course I believe in love despite four divorces. There is nobody who doesn't believe in love. But marriage - that fits some people but obviously not me.
I always prefer to work intensively on something and then move on to something else. I prefer not to get stuck in something that takes five or six years of my life.
I'd been trying for a while to get parts that weren't just the English bad guy, so it was quite refreshing to be playing someone who was a compassionate, decent guy.
I don't like broad swords. They're not much fun. A broad sword is just a big chunk of steel, and there's not much finesse in it, not much skill, I don't think anyway.
Where I come from, all of us wanted to be footballers. We played all the time; that's all we did at school or wherever until it went dark and you couldn't see the ball.
I spend a fair chunk of time in Los Angeles, and after about ten days of warmth and unbroken clear skies, you start to yearn for a bit of good old British gloom and rain!
It's a good thing about George R.R. Martin: He's prepared to kill off the main guys. You don't get the feeling that the good guy is going to last forever, like James Bond.
Lord of the Rings was just so much enjoyment. It was over about the space of a year that I was filming. It's one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done, so emotional.
It was such an interesting character and the film really explored his friendship with Bond and how it all went wrong, so it was a very personal journey for both characters.
I really got my money's worth from colleges in Sheffield and Rotherham because I kept dropping out, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do at first, like a lot of teenagers.
006 was such an interesting character and the film really explored his friendship with Bond and how it all went wrong, so it was a very personal journey for both characters.
I like Daniel Craig. I worked with him on 'Sharpe,' one of the very early ones, maybe the second one we did - 'Sharpe's Revenge?' A long, long time ago, and he was good in that then.
I think the amount of production value that was put into 'Game of Thrones' was incredible, and it's unlike anything I've seen on any other production, including 'The Lord of the Rings.'
There's only so long you can play the silent type standing in the background. 'GoldenEye' was good for that. I was the villain: James Bond was doing all the heavy lifting. I liked that.
I love creating things, especially out of metal. There's something truly satisfying about shaping a piece of metal and seeing the impurities peeling away as you weld it into your chosen design.
I sometimes find that playing the bad guy, or villains, or psychopaths tend to be much more psychologically rewarding. And you can really push it, you can push the limits, and get away with it.
I'm proud of Lord of the Rings. I think it's a once in a lifetime role, and a once in a lifetime film. It was made with so much care and passion and meticulous detail and everybody was so behind it.
I saw 'The Exorcist' at the cinema when I was quite young, maybe 14. When I went back home, my mum and dad weren't in, so I had to wait for them on the main road. I were too scared to enter the house.
Everyone was very deeply involved in the world of 'The Lord of the Rings'. From the wardrobe department to lighting, all were fascinated with the story. This is something that does not happen usually.
I put quite a few trees in last autumn. A lot of silver birch and a couple of native trees - just generally doing gardening, putting plants in and hedges in. It takes quite a lot of time and I love it.
Obviously I'm delighted I'm a grandfather, but I guess it takes a little while to digest. You start thinking, 'Oh, I'm half-way over the natural life span. So this is the last bit, and I'd better enjoy it.'
Oblivion is something unique, an entertainment experience unlike anything I had seen before. I decided this was a project I really wanted to work on creatively, and I hope fans of the game enjoy the results.
All this focus on my private life is the most unappealing aspect of being an actor. I don't like it, but it goes with the territory, and I have to put up with it. I certainly don't set out to attract attention.
I wouldn't say I'm a Method actor, but I do try to focus very deeply on what character I'm playing, and everything else goes out the window. I forget about everything. I try to get everything else out of my head.
I have gotten a couple of letters meant for Mr. Bean aka Rowan Atkinson. These letters would say things like, 'You're so funny, you make me laugh, with your big rubbery face,' and I would say, 'You can't mean me!'
There's a wealth of literature out there which, hopefully, will be, you know, exploded in the future, and I personally find it very rewarding to be involved with classic storytelling, and sort of legendary characters.
You've only got to walk into a pub or a café or anything and you'll find people talking about topics they're very unhappy with. You feel as though things are being eroded and people don't know where they belong anymore.
You only have to pick up a paper to see the sort of scams and injustices that are out there. There's a sense that people don't belong and just aren't very happy. They're outraged, in fact, and they're being shafted left, right and centre.
When I first started shooting 'Sharpe,' back in the early 1990s, I'd kiss my two elder daughters goodbye at the end of August - Evie wasn't even born then - and I wouldn't see them again until Christmas. That was tough. They were hard times.
I think everybody's got different methods of working which suit the particular individual. Mine is to sort of play the part, and give 100%, to concentrate and focus on it while I'm actually working, but then leave it behind until the next day.
I left school when I was 16; then I worked for my father, who was a welder. And I was a welder for three years, you know, welder of fabrication, metal 'cause it was a big industrial town, Sheffield. It was much steel and coal and stuff like that.
At art college, I started to do music and then painting and drawing - and that would have been my ideal life, to be an artist and be paid for it, to be able to create stuff. I realized it was difficult, but I don't know if I had the application for it.
I never try and play a bad guy to be bad and to be brutal and to be nasty and vicious, because I think you're going to be very cliche there. You know, you've got to find the truth in that character and what he believes in. It just happens that, you know, he's wrong.
Lord of the Rings was something I always wanted to do. I read the book when I was about 25, and I was always hoping if it was ever made into a feature film that I would be involved in some way. And then I finally got it, and I was over the moon. It was fantastic news.
I sort of leave the character at the end of the day. I don't carry anything around with me - no excess baggage or unnecessary thoughts. I think it's too exhausting to do that. To put things into perspective - your work is your work, and your leisure time is something else.
I shared a dressing room with Pete Postlethwaite for 18 months, and he became a good friend. His discipline had an impact on me. You could have a laugh with him, but he was always on the ball when it came to work and very professional. Hopefully some of that rubbed off on me.