“I like these calm little moments before the storm, it reminds me of Beethoven.”

I’m not the best audience for that because I’m not a great science-fiction fan. I just never got off on space ships and space costumes, things like that.

I got obsessed with classical music, I got obsessed with Chopin, with playing the piano.

I think filmmaking should be a wonderfully free collaborative process, and it so very rarely is. I often see directors as jailers of my talent.

Change is vital to any actor. If you keep playing lead after lead, you’re really gonna dry up. Because all those vehicles wean you away from the truths of human behaviour.

I had a guitar when I was 6 or 7, a plastic guitar with the Beatles’ faces on it. It would be a collector’s item now. It would fetch a hefty sum, I imagine.

If one could have a wish, or an alternative life, I would’ve liked to have been John Lennon.

The great thing about Google is that you type in neuro-surgery and somehow you end up with Peter Sellers or watching Frank Sinatra. Google is a great resource.

I like celluloid, I like film, I like the way that when a movie is projected it sort of breathes a little in the gate. That’s the magic of it to me.

My favorite meal would have to be good old-fashioned eggs, over easy, with bacon. Many others, but you can’t beat that on a Sunday morning, especially with a cup of tea.

How do you remember all those lines? By forgetting everything else.

Wanting to be a good actor is not good enough. You must want to be a great actor. You just have to have that.

I still don’t have a publicist. If I’m in a film, you have an obligation to promote it, I’ll do as much as I can.

The industry has changed. Two years ago I could tell a company I’ve got Russell Crowe and that would get the film made. Now they’d ask ‘And who’s the girl?’ Just one famous face isn’t enough any more.

It’s been said that alcoholics are egomaniacs with low self -esteem. It’s the prefect description. Being larger than life and yet your pride is crushed with self- loathing.

But you see, I have played more good guys than I have played villains.

My big love was the Beatles. I was more into music.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

Enthusiasm is a supernatural serenity.

Freedom is obedience to self-formulated rules.

Keep calm and carry on.

I function better when things are going badly than when they’re as smooth as whipped cream.

Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.

I do not want the peace which passeth understanding, I want the understanding which bringeth peace.

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty.