“Having played a lot of characters that are dangerously close to caricature, there’s something I’ve always found, and that is: everything you do has to be connected to the source of what the character really is.”
“My job takes me away from my daughter Lily a lot, so when I am with her the time is precious. When I’m filming I try to speak to her every day and let her know that I’m thinking of her and hopefully stay a presence in her life. I want Lily to have a parent who is enjoying and is passionate about their work but at the same time I don’t want it to be something that takes me away from her too much.”
“I do think there’s a kind of a dark energy in Port Talbot. It’s dominated by the steelworks, where there’s this fire that’s pumping out energy every day, and I think that is a good symbol for a kind of restless, fiery energy.”
“I’m definitely passionate and obsessed, and maybe that is a result of where I grew up. There was a real anger to south Wales in the 1970s and ’80s when industries were dismantled and people’s livelihoods were being messed up. There was a lot of unemployment and depression. I look at actors like Burton and Hopkins, and what they have in common is a dark anger that comes out in their acting. They’re at their best when they’re letting all that anger go. I can also see that in me.”
“There’s a great deal to be said about talent and inspiration but hard work is the most important in terms of being able to do anything well.”
“Getting older is a struggle. I always feel that just under the surface of acceptance and enjoyment of the aging process is a terrible hysteria just waiting to burst out.”
“On the one hand Twitter gives you the opportunity to engage with people, which is great, but on the other there are people who feel they can say whatever they want, put poison out there, really, without fear of any repercussions.”
“‘Hamlet’ is one of the most dangerous things ever set down on paper. All the big, unknowable questions like what it is to be a human being; the difference between sanity and insanity; the meaning of life and death; what’s real and not real. All these subjects can literally drive you mad.”
“Part of the fun of life is interacting with people and not knowing what the truth is inside. Letting them reveal that to you is what binds you to people.”
“I think parenthood is a wonderful balancing act. On the one hand, you want to spend as much time with your children as possible. On the other hand, you want to set an example for them to see that you’re fulfilled in your life and in your work.”
“By the time you are 30 you are still trying to make your 15-year-old self happy but you are a different person. You need to be brave and let go of that.”
“My taste in watching things runs from dramas and low-budget films to high-end fantasy/science fiction.”
“I always say if I’m not good at something it’s just because I’ve not had time to focus on it… it’s just uncrafted, like a slab of rock that contains the statue of David within it.”
“Acting itself is quite scary. Some people say that actors are show-offs, very egotistical and all that kind of stuff, but it is quite scary.”
“My chief gifts are – naturally good at all sports with a raw talent for pretty much everything, which if nurtured could develop into improper talent.”
“As a general thing, I’ve always been drawn to characters who appear to be one thing on the surface, but are actually something else underneath.”
“I enjoy doing things that involve research because it’s part of what I enjoy about acting.”
“Everyone deserves compassion.”
“I would like to be taller, thinner and more rakish looking.”
“I think I’m becoming more relaxed in front of a camera. I suppose I’ll always feel slightly more at home on stage. It’s more of an actor’s medium. You are your own editor, nobody else is choosing what is being seen of you.”
“I’m not a Tony Blair impersonator.”
“I cry when I feel moved by incredible generosity or a connection to someone. We spend so much of our lives being separated. It’s the relief of connection that produces the tears.”
“When I was at drama school, I wanted to change the world, and thought I had some great wisdom to impart to people about humanity. Now that I’m older, I know enough to realize that I know nothing at all.”
“I think the best acting is when you allow yourself to be kind of vulnerable in the moment.”
“The secret to acting is don’t act. Be you, with add-ons.”
“Although my family – parents and sister – all work in the personnel management business, their real passion is performing, amateur operatic societies and so on.”
” I’ve always had an eye for what looks good on a man. But I’ve not always found it easy to find clothes that look good on me. “
“Stories have always been the things that entertain me and make me feel happy and sad and move me and give me the experience of being able to live many lives in one lifetime. It’s the best thing about being alive.”
“My rule of thumb is that I want to do things I’d like to go and see myself.”
“I am prone to get carried away thinking about creative projects.”
“I suppose I’ve got a reputation for playing quite extreme characters and making them quite believable.”
“A lot of the times when I’ve auditioned for parts in America, the answer is, ‘Sorry, we need a bigger name.'”
“Normal people – i.e., people who aren’t actors – are the most bizarre people you can ever come across. I’ll talk to someone and come away thinking, ‘They are clinically insane.'”
“The first thing, when I read the script, is that I need to care about what happens and feel compelled by the story and engaged by the characters. It needs to resonate with me, even if what the characters are going through is not something that I have experienced in my life. I have to feel like it has some sort of meaning to me.”
” I have a terrible temper. I have absolutely no problem with getting shouty or a bit physical. It’s not something I’m pleased about and it doesn’t happen very often, but it’s very much there. “
“I’m a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy – not so much horror because I get a bit scared.”
“I’m always aware that there are, broadly speaking, two different ways to act: there is acting, and then there’s being, and I’m always more interested in that.”
“Sometimes you see things in a script, and it doesn’t necessarily mean the director sees the same things. And if you think you’re going to be making a different film, then that’s not gonna work.”
“I think being a parent is the most challenging thing you do. That’s why we’re here. It’s at the heart of what it is to be a human being. It’s the ultimate experience because it questions everything about who you are. But it’s difficult.”
“I don’t find the life in Hollywood all that meaningful or inspiring.”
“If I weren’t an actor, I’d be a frustrated actor.”
“You have to find the stuff, you have to find things, these fragments, that you hold to yourself, that become like a life raft. And especially as time goes on I think, as I got older I realized it’s a thin line between surviving this life and going under. And the things that keep you afloat are these fragments, these things that are meaningful to you, and what is meaningful to you will not be meaningful to someone else, but whatever it is that matters to you, it doesn’t matter what you were into when you were a teenager, a kid, it doesn’t matter what it is, go and find them! And find someway to hold them close to you, go and get it, because those are the things that keep you afloat, they really are.”