When I first read Lord of the Rings I wanted to see a film of it. But at that time the technology wasn't there, there was no such thing as CGI.

Acting as a profession came to me by chance: in 1946, after the war, I was having lunch with my cousin, who was the Italian ambassador, and he asked, 'What are you going to do now you're out of uniform?' I said, 'I'm pretty inventive, and I can imitate people,' and he said, 'Have you thought about being an actor?'

I lived for 10 years in Los Angeles, and the one element that surpasses everything else - that you are very conscious of - is fear. You can smell it.

Every actor has to make terrible films from time to time, but the trick is never to be terrible in them.

What's really important for me is, as an old man, I'm known by my own generation and the next generation know me, too.

I love Chicago. It is my new favorite city. It is the perfect place to do any kind of theater.

If I had any deadly secrets, I wouldn't still be alive.