The whole point of being an actor is to get satisfaction out of a role - unless you're just vain about celebrity.

The whole point of being an actor is to get satisfaction out of a role - unless you're just vain about celebrity.

I really wouldn't want to live in America. I found New York claustrophobic and dirty. I missed England when I was there, simple things like smells and the British sense of humor.

Being part of 'Natural Nylon' is a great way to have an influence on the films that get out there. I love films and it gives me an input.

Even when you're producing difficult material and you get emotional, after it you feel good; you feel like you've done a good job, or had an emotional release. I've always enjoyed that, but you go home and think, that was a good day's work, and you move on.

I always know I can die at any moment.

I consider myself really lucky and I always have done. My approach is that if I know I'm relaxed and happy, then I will do my best work.

I don't think any actor has the luxury of knowing exactly what scripts are going to turn out well and what ones aren't. It would be wonderful to have that particular skill, and maybe people like Tom Cruise have it more than most, but you go into each project hoping that a good, if not great, film will come out the other end.

I don't want to talk about the specifics of other people's performances compared with my own. I'd never do that.

I like to play different types roles, but I'd like to do a comedy next.

I spent a couple of months just riding a bike doing my own training in the streets.

I used a bike in London and that's it. I learnt a lot about biking, and really got into. Now I cycle regularly.

I'd go anywhere to work, so long as it's worth it.

I'm a pretty happy person, to be honest with you.

I'm glad I don't live in Primrose Hill any more. I couldn't even walk through the park. You never invite that kind of attention.

I've never taken myself too seriously, I'm not into that.

If I thought of myself as a movie star, I'd be an idiot. I don't know anyone who thinks like that. I don't even know movie stars who think like that.

If you're serious about what you're doing, you've got to keep your head and follow your instinct. Maybe you won't reach the same dizzy heights as others, but you will get something back.

New York and LA are both great places to visit, but I wouldn't want to live in either of them now. I find New York extremely claustrophobic and dirty. LA is quite a nice place. But there's no hustle and bustle, no street life.

Some kids are good at math, some kids can run, and acting was an interest of mine. Because I knew you could do it for a living I decided, that's what I'm going to do.

Some people can handle fame, some can't.

The whole point of being an actor is to get satisfaction out of a role - unless you're just vain about celebrity. You're always looking for the one thing that will surprise you.

The whole thing about the way I approach work is to be surprised by an opportunity when it comes up. So I have no idea what I will be doing next, and I kind of like that.

Theater is just so much more satisfying than film or television just because you deliver the whole thing from start to finish in one evening, and you can tell if people have enjoyed it or not. That's great to do every night to go in front of a full room of people and tell the story. There's nothing like that really.

Vampires are immortal, you can do whatever you want, and get away with it. And there's the seduction part of course, sex is a big part of the vampire thing.

You're always looking for good scripts and when they're not always forthcoming you go mad.

Computers creating art is an upsetting concept mostly because of what it means about humans.

My favorite actor is Wallace Beery.

I've been a very lucky actor.

I don't think I could be happy as an actor if there was a tyrant on the set.

When I was starting to get noticed as an actor in the 1970s for something other than the third cowboy on the right who ended up dying in every movie or episode, Burt Reynolds was the biggest star in the world.

Most parts that can be played by one actor can equally well be played by another, but not this.

I think, frankly, that I'm a better director than I was an actor.

I knew an actor's career goes up and down and back up again. Your standing in this business can't be your whole identity; otherwise, you're doomed.

I don't think any actor feels comfortable watching themselves in movies. You must be very narcissistic. The problem with your own opinion of yourself is that contrary to the normal spectators, when you watch a film you are in, you only watch yourself.

I don't think there has been any increase in sophistication in the audience. When people are aware of a concept that's easy to understand, and there's an actor who will attract them to the theater and it's a movie that's funny three-quarters of the time, it will be successful.

I never dreamed about being an actor, because that was out of reach. Coming from a small town that was big in farming, and also big in clothing factories, you don't dream about being a professional football player or an actor.

My goal was always to be recognized as a good actor but no one was interested in that, simply because society just wants to warm towards your appearance. This is the great blemish of society.

If you really do want to be an actor who can satisfy himself and his audience, you need to be vulnerable.

To be honest with you, when I got into this I never thought about reviews. I never thought about what people would say about me. I was just a young guy who was excited to become a comedian and an actor and I just wanted to get to do what I got to do.

It was very natural for me to want to disappear into dark theater, I am really very shy. That is something that people never seem to fully grasp because, when you are an actor, you are meant to be an exhibitionist.

I think that I've still not been successful at playing the role of the retired actor, and I'd like to work on that.

And once you cease to be a real person, you stop being a good actor.

When I decided I wanted to be an actor, I said I wanted to work with quality actors and directors.

There are roles I want that my agency might not want me to do because of the subject matter or whatever. Or there are roles that people won't bring to me because they don't think I'll do it. And that is a big strain because an actor wants to act.

Reality is, I'm an actor and an entertainer, and I really wouldn't know what to do with another profession.

I still feel like I'm trying to make it. It's hard to shed the struggling actor thing.

Only a great actor finds the difficulties of the actor's art infinite.

Follow the wisdom of the great actor, James Cagney, you hit your mark, you look the other guy in the eye, and you tell the truth.