“I understand that anything actors are doing, good or bad, is motivated by fear.”

The race is long but in the end it is only with YOURSELF.

There’s a whole system in Hollywood where the director never speaks to the studio, but I like to engage them in a discussion. I listen.

In terms of the mechanics of story, myth is an intriguing one because we didn’t make myth up; myth is an imprinture of the human condition.

I wouldn’t take a directing job if I didn’t think it was enriching life.

I really believe musical form will go on. There’s got to be a way of making musical form in cinema live again.

So, what is creative freedom? We can make what we want, how we want. The only constraint is: not for any budget.

When you’re in theater or the circus or film – to me it’s all one – affairs happen. People fall in love.

One of the great things about Sydney is that it has a great acceptance of everyone and everything. It’s an incredibly tolerant city, a city with a huge multicultural basis.

I’ve always loved the old epics that tell a simple emotional story, whether it’s the tumultuous relationship between Rhett and Scarlett or Lawrence of Arabia’s passion to get lost in a faraway place.

I always have a point of view. It may not be right, but it’s my own.

I am always worried when someone says, ‘This is perfect.’

Advice is a form of nostalgia.

I never see things I make in the same way that the audience does. You can never do that.

I mean the future has become old fashioned.

The party is a true art form in Sydney and people practise it a great deal. You can really get quite lost in it.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.

If you ask any actor “What single thing would make you really, really happy?” Among the top five things they’d say is not having to audition anymore.

I went to school to be an actor in Canada and realized I hated auditions once I left, which is a huge problem if you want to get a part.

Actors are just entertainers, even the serious ones. That’s all an actor is. He’s like a serious Bruce Forsyth.

I took a gamble in becoming an actor and my dream job has been realised.

Certainly, I was typed. But what is typing? It is a trademark, a means by which the public recognizes you. Actors work all their lives to achieve that. I got mine with just one picture. It was a blessing.

When you work as actors in this business, you spend a lot of time apart. That’s why a lot of marriages fail. It’s not because of Hollywood, it’s because you don’t spend time together.

You don’t really have to dress a ton of actors. You don’t really have to spend a bunch of money lining up extras to look the time period.

Every actor-performer says this, and it sounds so irritating, but I’m not the most outgoing person.