“I don’t know any family that doesn’t have a story somewhere. Besides, it you didn’t have those things in life, you’d be so bland.”

I remember one time that I was filming a scene in which my character rides through Troy on a chariot. I just looked around at this incredible set thinking ‘This is the life’.

I need to keep reinventing myself.

The philosophies behind meditation are very current today and are a way of finding some sort of peace.

Although it is a fantasy film, it’s as real as it can be. You have to imagine that an audience will buy their ticket to a cinema and get on a first-class flight and journey to Middle Earth.

I’m amazed that things have panned out the way they have. I always say I’m so lucky, though my mum always says, ‘You make your own luck.’

People come into your life and people leave it… you just have to trust that life has a road mapped out for you.

I try to take the time to appreciate and I certainly do appreciate and I do feel proud but that is probably one of the things I need to work on, building a bit of time for myself.

When you start falling for somebody and you can’t stop thinking about when you’re going to see them again, I love that. Women are beautiful. They deserve to be cherished and respected.

I don’t do a film unless it has a sword in it. And if it doesn’t have a sword in it, I insist that they have one in the same room to keep me comfortable.

I love it. I hate that word (fatherhood), but I love being a father; it’s changed everything in so many ways.

If you have kids who are struggling with dyslexia, the greatest gift you can give them is the sense that nothing is unattainable. With dyslexia comes a very great gift, which is the way that your mind can think creatively.

The process of making a movie is what I love. I thrive on that. It’s an exciting miracle, a mad adventure. I love being part of it.

I missed my home – like the physicality of my home, I missed my friends and my family mostly and just hanging out and being in your home country – culturally it feels right and that is what I miss.

I think it’s sort of a rite of passage for a British actor to try and get the American accent and have a good crack at doing that.

We have to make good use of the time we have. That simple. We have to wake up every day, knowing that it’s not just an ordinary day. We have to take the moment, seize each day.

The role of an actor is to make every character believable.

You can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family, an’ they’re still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge ’em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don’t.

I come from a middle-class family, but we are open-minded people.

People will laugh at me, but when they ask me to make a wish for the next life, I will say I want the same parents, same brother and sister, same wife, same friends.

Your friends, family, and kids have to understand that’s your priority. It’s the only way you can be successful.

I’m just trying to be the me that I am and not all of this other crap. I just want to be the family man, and if somehow I can make the money to get my ranch and get the hell away from everybody else, that would be awesome.

I really don’t care what people think of me. I’ve got my family. I’ve got my friends. Yes, I have been trained to be a little more aggressive if I need to be, but I don’t go around thumping people.

I want to give more time to my children, my family, to my health.

My parents have been volleyball players, and my dad is an Arjuna awardee in volleyball.