I had to kiss it [ playing Hamlet] goodbye because Marvel have to plot things for the next three, four years.

I've always wanted to play a spy, because it is the ultimate acting exercise. You are never what you seem.

I think playing any iconic role when you're stepping into big shoes, into the shadow of people who have come before you and you can't process that.

I'm always playing characters with intellects profoundly superior to mine. That's great fun, even though it's as much a fantasy for me as for the people watching me.

The guy [Doctor Strange], he's like most of us, he's uncorrupted flesh from the beginning of his life, he's somebody who's not marked with original sin or any kind of crap like that. He's somebody who's come into this world and had experiences that have shaped him to the point that we first meet him. There's always got to be leverage. I think there is some clear explanation of that within this film, but potentially further down the line...for more of that to come out as well.

[Doctor Strange] is difficult, he's arrogant, but he's kind of brilliant and charming and you'd think, "Yeah, I'd want him on my head if I needed brain surgery." He's good enough to warrant his arrogance and he respects other people but not when he thinks he's right and he'll just do what he deems needs to be done when he knows or feels that he's right and the problem from humility's point of view is that he is right, he's really really good at his job.

Mystique is rare now, isn't it? There aren't that many enigmas in this modern world.