“Sometimes being away, on location, I feel like I’m away for much of my own life. I want to be better at staying connected.”

Gen. Tommy Franks told me the war was being compromised as specialized personnel and equipment were being shifted from Afghanistan to prepare for the war in Iraq – a war more than a year away.

I’ll always do ‘Sherlock’ – it’s something I’m not going to give up on.

We have a lot more unlikely heroes now. It’s not just the guy with guns—it’s the guy with brains.

There are moments when, like all of us, you get a bit self-conscious and you’d rather not be living any of your day in public. Those are the awkward times, but you’ve got to have fun with it.

Sherlock being the most prevalent, and they’ve been really good fun.

I was never geeky about anything.

Upper class to me means you are either born into wealth or you’re Royalty.

This is an odd profession, and sometimes people get jealous, but I haven’t really experienced any of that. Everyone’s been really happy for me, which is really, really great.

Even the cerebral characters I play seem to have physical quirks. They’re all “physically inhabited,” for lack off a better expression. For instance, Sherlock Holmes has very particular physical gestures which are drawn out in such detail.

I like to think that we’re revolving on this planet and revolving through the galaxy. I love having context that’s so much bigger than I can fathom. It’s fantastic to realise how insignificant you are.

I understand from those who adore him, he [Julian Assange] has a great sense of humor which rarely gets an airing because he’s dealing with such serious issues.

My mum and dad had worked incredibly hard to afford me an education.

[on BBC’s Sherlock] It’s a rare challenge, both for the audience and an actor, to take part in something with this level of intelligence and wit. You have to really enjoy it. It’s a form of mental and physical gymnastics.

[ Stephen Strange] is less strange than other characters I’ve played. He’s lost the power to love, which doesn’t make him a nasty person. I just think he’s closed-off.

Because reading is one of the joys of life, and once you begin, you can’t stop, and you’ve got so many stories to look forward to.

It’s always important to have the blessing.

If I’m the champion, the whole UFC division should be ashamed of themselves for a guy that had no damn skills being the champion. They should all just go relocate somewhere.

I’m a golfer, and what are the two sports you can do till you drop? Golf and surfing. They’re great for you limber-wise, they’re great for you health-wise, and they put you in sweet locations.

Nature is by and large to be found out of doors, a location where, it cannot be argued, there are never enough comfortable chairs.

The catalyst that converts any physical location – any environment if you will – into a place, is the process of experiencing deeply.

People are always asking me to do Shakespeare – at home, at colleges, on film locations, in restaurants. It’s like playing a piece of music, getting all the notes. It’s great therapy.

I feel what is really great about Pusher is that it wasn’t about drugs and guns and strippers. That was just all circumstantial.

We go to the real places, we shoot on location. We get the real people. It’s a perfect marriage between fact and fiction.

You ask any actor – they’ll tell you they’d rather shoot on location because you don’t have to invent the energy, the energy is there.