What helped me most were my failures and slumps - when I couldn't get work, people weren't interested in me or had written me off.

Each of us needs something - food, liquor, pot, whatever - to help us survive. Dracula needs blood.

There is a thing called the death wish, a literal thing. It doesn't mean you want to die. It just means however we're built, as we get into these years, some inner part of you does begin to accept the fact that you're heading towards the end, and there's a peace that comes with that.

If you're lucky as you get older, you respect the craft and it becomes a skill.

When I closed in "King Lear" I went into a period of depression for about three weeks, and every actor I've talked to who's ever played a major, major Shakespeare role has done this.

You can only lead by example, and you can only say it might be better for you if. But nobody can do anything until they're ready to do it. So you can sit down with a strong-minded young man of 24, as my son was at a point, and say now listen, this, this, this, and this.

I have a good friend who says, "We're all just dodging bullets." It seems to me the trick to living a good life is to try to move away from the gun you turn on yourself.