“I’m doing a film now with a lot of guys as well, so at the end of that I will be growing a beard.”

I wasn’t allowed to do commercials. I wasn’t allowed to do TV series. I wasn’t allowed to do soaps or basically anything that would mean I missed too much school.

Half of my mum’s family is Welsh. I remember when I was a kid she used to read to me, and witches and wizards in books always had a Welsh accent, so I guess I took it from that really.

Beauty is everywhere. And my photography came naturally without any particular inspirations growing up.

Bigger films are more difficult because the number of people is so huge.

I always find it much easier when there’s one person whose vision you’re following, as opposed to many people.

I think women’s bodies are a battleground and photography is partly to blame. Our society is so photographic now, it becomes more difficult to see all of those different varieties of shape.

It’s not everyday you get to do a pirate movie, you might as well go for it.

I don’t have a problem with my body. I’m not just going to strip off all my clothing, but if the part calls for it and I don’t think there’s any way round, I’m absolutely fine.

It’s a difficult thing when you try and make a film of a book that you really love. You have about two hours to tell the story, and it’s never going to be enough.

My mum says that I was born 45, and I do remember at six thinking that I should be earning my own living.

At this particular time, I probably am more comfortable with myself. Just now I’m having a lovely time.

In the movie, you’re moving, you have personality, you don’t have to be great looking.

I enjoy doing an action scene. I’m not a purist as far as films go. If you want to do sex, great. As long as you do it well.

The thing I love about acting is getting to change and look at different people in different lives and do different projects.

Well, the thing about great fictional characters from literature, and the reason that they’re constantly turned into characters in movies, is that they completely speak to what makes people human.

Envy is the last thing that my parents feel.

I think the most fun I ever had was playing King Arthur in Spamalot on the West End.

The current financial crisis in the US is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the Second World War.

I decided Widmore was the evilest of the evil, but in the end, not even the writers knew.

[Republicans] swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose.

In the end we are all sacked and it’s always awful. It is as inevitable as death following life. If you are elevated there comes a day when you are demoted. Even Prime Ministers.

Whether you like it or not, Paris is the beating heart of Western civilisation. It’s where it all began and ended.

My feeling about work is it’s much more about the experience of doing it than the end product. Sometimes things that are really great and make lots of money are miserable to make, and vice versa.

We start off confused and end up confused on a higher level.