“There was a lot that I wanted it to do, and I wanted it to be fun. It’s fun, but it’s not simple fun.”

I want to make sure people are constantly surprised and interested.

They’re classic themes, which is why I think it’s such a great story to look at again.

Richelieu is not a villain, in his own mind. He’s doing what he needs to do.

It’s not fundamentally different to any other genre, that action is a particular thing.

On a simple level, you need directors who are good at action and can choreograph an action scene

I think there’s an element in Milady where she sees her own innocence in D’Artagnan.

You can use the fun of the genre, but I also really wanted to come at it from the point of view of some really complex characterization.

And we make quite a big thing about that. I won’t give too much away.

One of the problems of this genre is that there are cliches everywhere, and you’ve got to be careful and watch out.

Milady is, in one sense, a villain because she does bad things.

The thing about villains is that villains always have their own logic, and they don’t necessarily see themselves as villains.

You’re always looking to make it a bit fresh.

He’s not cruel. He just does what he has to do. And in his own mind, he’s absolutely right.

You do see a few people and you are thinking of how that chemistry is going to work, but it’s not really fair to put people who are auditioning together in a room.

I didn’t want to do that. But what I did want to do was have a real look at the adventure genre because I thought it was ripe for reinvention.

I always want the action to be witty. I don’t want it to be merely routine.

I don’t have any feeling of accomplishment about anything unless there’s a lot of risk to it.

I go out with white women. This makes a lot of people unhappy, mostly black women.

We spent a lot of time talking about politics at home. We went to the camp at Greenham Common.

I think a lot of blue collar people related to me because a lot of people work for their money.

I’ve done a lot of dumb things in my life.

A lot of musicians talk about how they were into music from the start; they always wanted to be musicians. It wasn’t like that for me. I didn’t think of it as a job or a career – it was just something that was constant.

A lot of people simply don’t realize their potential because they’re just so risk adverse. They just don’t want to take the risk.

You get a lot of respect for ‘Game of Thrones,’ and it was a lot of fun to play, but it didn’t help my career a lot because Khal Drago doesn’t even speak English.