Ring tones are just irritating, aren't they?
As an actor you have to get used to receiving gentle little pies in the face.
I was very unmotivated at school.
When I started acting, I used to read all the reviews.
One of the things I like about doing historical films is drawing the line between now and then.
Violence is a very ugly thing. Violence is often so casual on film, and made to look so cool and so sexy, but violence is a repulsive, repugnant act that human beings inflict on each other. It shouldn't seem to be cool and sexy, ever really.
I'm on record saying that HBO is the best television company in the world, and I believe they are. I think they absolutely understand how to make television that is really, really vital and interesting and visceral, and all the things that television really should be.
British actors are pretty good, by and large, at turning on at 'action' and off at 'cut.'
You know, people aren't watching a network: they're watching cable channels.
When you're unhappy, you tend to play up, don't you?
I'm not a big fan of patterns. I like the unexpected.
I love all things Apple and have done since 1996.
I have to travel a lot for work.
I think the business affairs people at the studios get some kind of perverse satisfaction in finding the worst hotels for actors to stay in.
Ancient Rome was a violent place.
I'm a serial monogamist.
Acting is a way to escape who you are for a short period of time. It doesn't happen all the time , but every now and then, the sensation of being 'other' is very profound. You get this moment where you are no longer yourself. You lose consciousness of the crew or the audience... it's a thrilling moment. And even quite spiritual.
As you mature and gain a semblance of wisdom and a sense of what life is all about... this is by no means true of everyone, but a lot of actors like to escape themselves. Inhabiting another person's persona is often a good way of escaping yourself.
I wasn't accepted the first time I tried to get into drama school. I said, 'I'll give this one more shot... and if that doesn't work, I won't bang my head against this painful brick wall.'
When you don't take what you have for granted, you constantly try to re-prove yourself to yourself rather than to other people.
