I was 7, and I remember being given a part in a play and thinking, This is exciting.

I approach every part I'm asked to do and decide to do from exactly the same angle: who is this person, what does he want, how does he attempt to get it, and what happens to him when he doesn't get it, or if he does?

I don't play villains, I play very interesting people

If you spend any time in Los Angeles, there's only one topic of conversation.

When I am asked about influences, I always say I bow down to Fred Astaire, because when you look at him dancing you never look at his extremities, do you? You look at his centre. What you never see is the hours of work that went into the routines, you just see the breathtaking spirit and freedom.

England in the '60s and the '70s was everything that history has said; it was phenomenally exciting, musically.

The directors you trust the most are the ones, when you ask them a question, they've got the guts to say, 'I don't know.'