The people I admire most are those who struggle for everyone.

I think the theatre is as essential to civilization as safe, pure water.

One of the joys of cinema is that, given the right circumstances, and the genius director, an incredibly wonderfully actor can become the embodiment of his character.

On one occasion, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jeremy Irons and myself were due to appear at the Sarajevo film festival and were turned off a UN plane on orders from Geneva. We had to get local journalists to transport the films in for us. I tell you this only to demonstrate that festivals can be a lifeline. But, after all the difficulties I'd had in getting there, in 1996 I found myself being flown in on a four-seater RAF plane as an official guest, endorsed by the British Embassy. Ironically, the film I was to present was Mission: Impossible.

Theater helps people keep sane.

Shakespeare lets us see real people undergoing real processes, with real feelings

What a script says that isn't dialogue is as important as the spoken word.