Richard was in heavy, heavy costume, he could hardly sit, you know, and I turned up and they put me in two layers of silk, so I played him much lighter - you know, floating around in a pair of slippers, a bit of a hippy.

Every part I play is just a variant of my own personality. No real character actor, of course, just me.

There were no spells at my school, just a smack in the mouth.

I learn the lines that JK Rowling or whoever writes them, and say them.

You get used to being lazy doing films, but classical theatre's going to finish me off.

There's no subtext in Harry Potter really; it's all magic, anything can happen. Why do I say this? Because it's a magic spell. It's quite nice in a way. There is a real freedom to it.

I just play him as myself, I don't ease myself into any role really. I stick a beard on and play me.

I am a theatre actor, but the last ten years I've taken parts in movies because it keeps me in money.

I promise myself that I would go and do a play every year.

Richard was in heavy, heavy costume, he could hardly sit, you know, and I turned up and they put me in two layers of silk, so I played him much lighter - you know, floating around in a pair of slippers, a bit of a hippy.

Television has dried up for my generation, so it's plays and films.

A child did approach me in a restaurant in Cornwall, but he thought I was Gandalf.

I belong to quite a lot of learned societies. We collect firearms and discuss them at dinners and clubs and things.

I just hate the idea of being well known. I know that is almost impossible if you're an actor who has done okay, but I've always fought against it.

I live in fear of being a contented passenger. I'd rather get parts I can't play.

I'm an anorak. I've always been an obsessive collector of things. Richard Briers collects stamps. I collect cars and guns, which are much more expensive, and much more difficult to store.

I'm very flower-like. I love classical music. I go to ballet and I cry. There's nothing so beautiful.

I've always tried to be an actor who... I just plod on and try to keep my mouth shut, mind my own business. I find the whole thing about people's lives... I can't understand it. I'm always astonished that people want to know anything about me.

I've played quite a lot of crooks and killers, and that's quite interesting. Then Dumbledore is the complete opposite, isn't he? He's a nice old man.

Maybe that is why kids like Dumbledore: because he is funny rather than a miserable old sod with a long white beard.

My only memories of school are of being beaten, of being hit in the playground, of masters poking their fingers in my chest all day.

Oh yeah, I'd love to be a comedian. I've done a lot, but always in the confines of plays.

Paul Schofield said something like, 'If I'm not acting in a play, I don't really exist.' Those weren't the exact words, but he meant it's only when I'm acting in a play that I've got something to say about the world. And then why should I talk, when people can come to see it?

Television has dried up for my generation, so it's plays and films. You get used to being lazy doing films, but classical theatre's going to finish me off.

There are more important ways of earning a living, aren't there? Like being a neurosurgeon. But some plays are very important, aren't they?

There's no subtext in 'Harry Potter,' really; it's all magic - anything can happen. Why do I say this? Because it's a magic spell. It's quite nice in a way. There is a real freedom to it. Doesn't say much for acting, does it?

When I was doing 'Tales from Hollywood' at the National, I was invited to dinner by the choreographer, Kenneth MacMillan. He told me I had the heart of a dancer and asked me if I'd like to come on at the end of 'Romeo and Juliet' as a friar. I said I'd love to, but sadly, MacMillan died shortly after.

Yeah, I like causing trouble. It's the teddy boy in me. I used to be a teddy boy. Feeling slightly inferior and wanting to cause a bit of bother and get some action going on in the room rather than get bored stiff.

For me, decorating perfection means eclectic styles and collections of beautiful things like pottery, pillboxes and match strikers.

It's fun when you create a world to inhabit it and see the other characters from grounds eye view.

I had to learn a lot on 'Victorious' because I had never done multi-camera before. It's like music: You need to be on it, and there's no room for subtleties.

What we did is we used NASA topography data to map out the landscape, very subtle changes. We started to be able to see where the Nile used to flow.

It is about choices we make. And how the direction of our lives comes down to the choices we choose.

Five hundred words a day is what I aim for. And I don't go on to the next chapter until I've polished and polished and polished the one I'm working on.

I guess men like me - somebody out there must think I'm hot.

When someone is trying to interpret something for you, they always have an agenda.

I was in a state of gnawing, sensuous agitation that excited continually both blood and nerves when I sketched out the music for 'Tannhauser' and brought it to completion.

I have lots of muses, but one of my main girls is Cara Delevingne. She epitomises the way to wear my clothes. I love how she mixes up her style and the way she has so much fun. I simply adore her.

What I am interested in now is the landscape. Pictures without people. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually there are no people in my pictures. It is so emotional.

I find it shameful that in nearly all the universities of Europe, Palestinian students sponsor and nurture anti-Semitism.

Where were they when the Russians went down?

I want to inspire children to be obsessed over jewellery.

My resume, my career, and my legacy in this sport means more to me then collecting some checks.

Most people would rather sit on a plane for two hours than spend two days on a train, but there's nothing comparable to taking a relaxing rail journey with your family or good friends.

The average action game doesn't much traffic in thematic grandiosity, but the BioShock games are different.

A great mind is not sharpened by consorting with lesser minds.

'On demand' is more than just a series of clicks on your still-too-complicated remote control. In fact, it is now the best way to describe what the cable industry - from programmers to content makers to distributors - imagine their world is. Services and content available to very demanding consumers, wherever, whenever, however.

Surprisingly, Manhattan casts a sort of undersized shadow onto Long Island. Where I grew up, everyone seemed totally disconnected from the city - ours could have been any suburb, anywhere - though when traffic was thin, it took us only half an hour to get into midtown.

A reasonable opinion must ever be in danger where reason is not judge.