I'm very aware that when one is acting in the theater, you do become kind of animal about it. And you're reliant on instincts rather than tact a lot of the time.

All I want to see from an actor is the intensity and accuracy of their listening.

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

I think the thing about film is, as it gets proved by a lot of young filmmakers now, that the medium will just go on reinventing itself, and so you just hope to be a part of that and not a part of some kind of endless regurgitation or 'Here I am doing what you know I do' kind of thing.

I love perfumes. Every morning when my girlfriend and I come down to the courtyard in our block of flats we're assailed by the most delicious scent - jasmine round a doorway. It almost makes me swoon.

What is it about actors? God knows I get bored with actors talking about themselves.

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