[Georges] Simenon could be very brave like that. You never quite know what you're going to get or how the story's going to be told.

I tend to play rather odd men. People that are slightly odd or eccentric, or have a more particular attitude to life.

I don't think you should be too absolutist about what you play and what you don't play.

Johnny English is someone who really means well it's just that he's not as good as he thinks he is, and I think that maybe that's the British male in a nutshell.

I think you're bound to get a sense of any character that you play. It's not something you often do in comedy.

If you're a serious actor, it's when you know you're going to die tomorrow that you really start to feel it.

When I was doing Bean more than I’ve done him in the last few years, I did strange things - like appearing on chat shows in character as Mr. Bean.