Most people have a passive relationship with music and clothes, with culture. But music was my first contact with anything creative. Music is it, as far as I'm concerned.

I've got a stag weekend coming up and I've said I'm not doing anything more than a few drinks. I won't have it. I'll go home and watch Antiques Roadshow.

Most people have a passive relationship with music and clothes, with culture. But music was my first contact with anything creative. Music is it, as far as I'm concerned.

Why does everyone have to pretend to be stupid and not know long words?

'Sherlock' is beautifully done, if I may say so myself. Even if I wasn't in it, I would like the show.

'Sherlock' is one of the biggest things I will do, ever - we could never have predicted that level of insanity around the series.

'The Hobbit' would have been very difficult to pass on, do you know what I mean? It's not the kind of ship that comes into dock very often.

'The Hobbit's a big gig. It's a huge circus that you become a part of.

Acting is reacting, and it's always easier to react when someone is doing a good job.

Acting is the only thing I'm even vaguely good at and acting is something that I think I do know about.

Actors are people who are doing a job they want to do, which isn't the case for many of the people who watch what we do.

All my life, I've felt people are looking at me. So, when I became known, it was like, 'I'm not imagining this any more. People genuinely are staring at me. Oh, Christ, now they're coming over!'

Although there's an inherent light-heartedness to 'Sherlock,' I slightly err towards not doing the comedy.

Americans assume all British people have at least one servant.

Any pigeonhole is something to be rebelled against.

Are there many Tims in America? I don't know if I can think of many American Tims.

As an actor, you know there are things you get asked to do that you do quite well, with less effort.

As soon as a job finishes, I am done with it. When I'm really, really enjoying the job, I love the job, I want it to end because it's supposed to.

As soon as you get two actors in a room and they're locking eyes, they're doing a scene.

Being a mod is more of a sensibility than a style.

Being an actor is just like being any other sort of self-employed person - we're all just happy to have a job in the first place, but we also thrive off the uncertainty of it.

Comedy can't be about continuous success.

Coming back from doing 'The Hobbit,' you think 'Sherlock' is realistic, but of course, it's not that realistic.

Disappointment is an endless wellspring of comedy inspiration.

Don't get me wrong - I'm a big fan of things American - but when American people do British stuff, it's so universally dreadful.

Even someone as truly dark as Lorne Malvo is still very attractive, and you want to spend time with him because he's a fun character.

Fans want to see a story with characters, and they want to see a story.

Half of us are partly German! Half our language and culture, generally, in Anglo-Saxon terms, is German.

Humour is - how do I say this without sounding pompous - it's a huge part of my life.

I always kind of think if The Beatles were still around now, people would've lost interest quite a long time ago. Seven years of recording - it's there forever. I think not outstaying your welcome is a vital ingredient.

I am a fan of the Coen brothers. I'm not a fanatic. I'm a big admirer. They create unique worlds, and there is a real atmosphere to their films. Not everyone can get that. That's a massive part of their appeal: you can recognise them. Like all the great directors or artists, you know it when you see it.

I buy DVDs. I don't really buy CDs unless they're for other people.

I can live without endless television programmes and films just centered around computers. I can sort of live without that.

I can spot someone with similar fashion sense to me a mile off.

I can't actually believe how good 'The Sopranos' is. I genuinely am dumbfounded by it. It's like when you realize how good The Beatles are, and you think, 'How did they do that?'

I could say, 'I want to play a French-African humpback,' but I probably won't get that role.

I did a play once where a reviewer said, 'Martin Freeman's too nice to play a bad guy.' And I thought: 'Well, bad guys aren't always bad guys, you know?' When I see someone play the obvious villain, I know it's false.

I didn't audition for 'Fargo.' It was a straight offer.

I don't get cast as the guy who steps off a yacht in a white linen suit with a martini.

I don't have sentimental attachments to characters at all.

I don't like 'cool telly.'

I don't like affectation.

I don't think anyone looks into their family tree and expects it to come up smelling of roses.

I don't think it was a surprise that I ended up as an actor, and it was anything but a disappointment.

I don't want to be alone; the thing I love about acting is the other people you're doing it with.

I don't want to sound like a grumpy old man, but nothing winds me up more than people saying, 'Chill out' to me when I'm irritated!

I don't write anything off without reading a script, and if it's a good one, I'll consider it, whether it's for $20 or a million dollars.

I enjoy fighting scenes. I like fighting in film. I like pretending to fight in films.

I grew up in the suburbs, so I remember arriving at Waterloo and seeing Big Ben and the coloured lights on top of the Southbank Centre and thinking, 'Wow!'