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.

My career is going better now than when I was younger. Now I get the part. Back then, I'd get the girl.

We should vote for the welfare of the country, not for the welfare of the party.

I'm a frustrated stand-up comic. If you hand me a microphone and I get one laugh, then I'll go on for 20 minutes.

I'm a sort of boy next door. If that boy has a good scriptwriter.

Growing up, there was only classical music on BBC Radio. We had to listen to the American Forces Network in Germany, which played pop songs, or the pirate radio boats off the coast.

Obsession is a young man's game, and my only excuse is that I never grew old.