Your one certainty in life, your power as a human being, is that you have a choice in every situation about what you do next and about how you take what has happened to you.
Ben WhishawI used to collect knick-knacks, like wizards, trolls and little buddhas, and arrange them like precious things on a shelf.
Ben WhishawIn film, I find it very useful always to do some preparation before you start rehearsals or start shooting, because there's so much that's against you on a film set.
Ben WhishawWhen you have a character to work with, you carry them around in a strange way - they make you look at the world in a different way.
Ben WhishawAs an actor you have total rights to privacy and mystery, whatever your sexuality, whatever you do. I don't see why that has to be something you discuss openly because you do something in the public eye. I have no understanding of why we turn actors into celebrities.
Ben WhishawIt's fun to pretend you're good at something you know you wouldn't be good at in real life.
Ben WhishawThe criminal justice system, like any system designed by human beings, clearly has its flaws.
Ben WhishawI can be shy, but I’m not really. I try to be better at overcoming these things people have said.
Ben WhishawWe are so mired in the complexity of our reactions to other people that when you come across someone who is asocial, there is a simplicity that is refreshing.
Ben WhishawI would have loved to have been a painter or a sculptor. I'm still fascinated by those things.
Ben WhishawOne of the things I find very difficult about theatre is the repetition - that something can slide away from your original intentions.
Ben WhishawI don't have any ambition to make lots of money or win an Oscar or anything like that. It's not about that for me.
Ben WhishawI don't think anyone can walk through the world in a state of vulnerability all the time, can they?
Ben WhishawI always feel I am in the dark. You are never finished... it is not as if you can look back and think: ah... I know what I am talking about. You are only as good as your last job and are always struggling and striving and you never quite get to where you want to be.
Ben WhishawThe thing about acting is that it's fairly random. At the end of the day you take what drifts past you or what's given to you.
Ben WhishawI've been out to LA a couple of times but, over there, the Grenouille in me always comes to the surface. I feel completely terrified, totally flummoxed, like I don't understand what the hell is going on. I've no desire at all to go back there.
Ben WhishawI love films. I love music. I love poetry and stories. All of that I feel… I sort of get very excited and fed by.
Ben WhishawThe most amazing thing is when you find yourself watching someone in the café or something doing something weird. It's amazing what people do, isn't it, when you just look at them, when you take the time to look.
Ben WhishawKeats himself spoke about how Shakespeare was capable of erasing himself completely from the characters he had created. As an actor, that is what I'm trying to do.
Ben WhishawI think I have a degree of confidence, but I also have terrible insecurity, like anybody does.
Ben WhishawI think the sensation of being moved by a piece of art is something that is really good for a person's soul.
Ben WhishawDustin Hoffman takes such pleasure in what he does and there's nothing tense about him. He exudes joy and passion for what he's doing and that infects everyone. It certainly put me at ease coming to work with him every day. I felt his confidence and freedom rubbed off. He doesn't censor himself or stop an idea because he thinks it might be wrong.
Ben WhishawWhat I notice about people who are gifted in filmmaking is that they're great thinkers. They engage with big ideas and they engage with people.
Ben WhishawThe thing I love about acting is that you can bring something very personal into the open and at the same time remain hidden because you're always playing a character in a story that someone else has imagined. You're always protected.
Ben WhishawWhen I finished my A-levels, I assumed I'd be able to get work as an actor. But I couldn't. I didn't get an audition. Nothing. So I thought I'd better train and then the parts would come.
Ben WhishawI do get stopped on the street, although rarely. And they always have something lovely to say.
Ben WhishawI don’t think that actors are necessarily any more uncomfortable in their skin than anyone else. I suppose I feel more comfortable in my skin now, but you’re always playing a character, aren’t you? You tell different versions of yourself to different people and vice versa. Here, or in the photo shoot or wherever, it’s a representation of you. It’s not you-you. That’s how you get through it.
Ben WhishawDustin Hoffman also never does the same thing twice which is totally stimulating because you're always getting something new from him. You never really know what he's going to do next, so you have to be on your toes.
Ben WhishawEven today, England is a very repressed, repressive country, and there's pressure to be kind of a certain way, so people do things that ultimately make them sad.
Ben WhishawMy favorite Bond films are the really early ones, the first ones in fact, like 'Dr. No' and 'From Russia with Love.'
Ben WhishawI wish that the arts were better supported, and you can't say that enough times, but I also believe that whatever happens, artists will keep going.
Ben Whishaw