“Keats himself spoke about how Shakespeare was capable of erasing himself completely from the characters he had created. As an actor, that is what I’m trying to do.”

I always feel I am in the dark. You are never finished… it is not as if you can look back and think: ah… I know what I am talking about. You are only as good as your last job and are always struggling and striving and you never quite get to where you want to be.

As an actor you have total rights to privacy and mystery, whatever your sexuality, whatever you do. I don’t see why that has to be something you discuss openly because you do something in the public eye. I have no understanding of why we turn actors into celebrities.

It’s fun to pretend you’re good at something you know you wouldn’t be good at in real life.

I was quite a shy child – not chronically, but I tended to blend into the background.

The thing I love about acting is that you can bring something very personal into the open and at the same time remain hidden because you’re always playing a character in a story that someone else has imagined. You’re always protected.

I love films. I love music. I love poetry and stories. All of that I feel… I sort of get very excited and fed by.

I can be shy, but I’m not really. I try to be better at overcoming these things people have said.

I used to collect knick-knacks, like wizards, trolls and little buddhas, and arrange them like precious things on a shelf.

I don’t think I am especially interested in celebrities, but I love talking about what is going on with people and why they do what they do.

The most amazing thing is when you find yourself watching someone in the café or something doing something weird. It’s amazing what people do, isn’t it, when you just look at them, when you take the time to look.

Dustin Hoffman also never does the same thing twice which is totally stimulating because you’re always getting something new from him. You never really know what he’s going to do next, so you have to be on your toes.

In film, I find it very useful always to do some preparation before you start rehearsals or start shooting, because there’s so much that’s against you on a film set.

I think being very thin has had a lot to do with how I’ve been cast.

The thing about acting is that it’s fairly random. At the end of the day you take what drifts past you or what’s given to you.

I’m not tortured and neurasthenic – I’m really not.

When I finished my A-levels, I assumed I’d be able to get work as an actor. But I couldn’t. I didn’t get an audition. Nothing. So I thought I’d better train and then the parts would come.

Actors tend to be quite good at getting on with people. If you’re an arsehole, people don’t want to work with you. You won’t get hired Well, there are a few arseholes.

There’s no shame in stealing – any actor who says he doesn’t is lying. You steal from everything.

Jerry Weintraub, the producer, might be a pain in the ass, but he really knows how to treat his actors.

I love theatre, and you learn too much as an actor and enjoy too much of it not to want to go back a lot.

Even the greatest actors have had dry spells where they’ve wondered if they were going to work again.

As an actor, to be part of that story’s [Marvel univerce ] terrific. I’ve enjoyed it so much as a fan and now I’m getting to have a go myself.

I find that most of us actors can’t stand ourselves in any form.

I like getting carried away by what is happening and then decide each scene based on the actors, the set and the light.