Actors are actually very supportive of each other.

My parents certainly didn't have anything to do with the theater. I'm some kind of accident.

There's, like, marks next to an actor's name or something, and boy does that go up and down! Somewhere in there, which always causes my mate Miss Ruby Wax great hilarity, I was offered a biopic of Frank Sinatra. Even I knew that was a bad idea! They'll throw anything at you at certain times. So, you know, to thine own self be true.

On film you put all your energies into a single glance.

The difference between being an actor and a director is simple. The director has to hide his panic; the actor doesn't.

Acting is about giving something away, handing yourself over to whatever role you are asked to play. I'm not hiding or escaping or seeking anonymity. I reserve the right not to have a rubber stamp on my forehead saying this is who I am. Because who I am gets in the way of people looking innocently at the parts I play.

You know, London is so sprawling, and you can sometimes forget that anybody else is on a stage anywhere else.