If you think you're going to be up for an Oscar, you schedule your moviemaking.

I spent 30 years of my life not being wanted at all for films.

I feel that I helped the working class by just saying there are no barriers, which I consider to be true.

You don't retire from the movies. The movies retire you.

Alfie was the first time I was above the title; the first time I became a star in America.

I am often asked which of my films has come closest to my own ideal of performance, and I always answer, 'Educating Rita.'

The best research for playing a drunk is being a British actor for 20 years.