My dialogue coach said to do a Texas accent, you lean on the next word, and that was the clue to me.

When I was 6 my father went to fight in the war, so he was my big hero. I thought he was the greatest thing.

I've never been competitive with other actors. I've been competitive with myself and I'm my own worst critic, a terrible critic I am, and unless I get something right, I feel very unhappy.

In my early days, I didn't know what a good film or a bad film was, and I was trying to make some money. As it happens I was lucky. I made some good films.

To me, 'Educating Rita' is the most perfect performance I could give of a character who was as far away from me as you could possibly get and of all the films I have ever been in, I think it may be the one I am most proud of.

The difference between a movie star and a movie actor is this - a movie star will say, 'How can I change the script to suit me?' and a movie actor will say. 'How can I change me to suit the script?'

By the time the Oscars are on I'll be seventy. How many more chances am I going to have to get nominated for an Oscar?