We get older and more sophisticated and a bit cleverer, but certainly boys - and men - are as childish and basic as we ever were.
Jim Broadbent
As a young actor, I was advised to bide my time. Back then, there weren't good roles for someone like me. There were handsome leading men and character actors for smaller supporting roles. But I was told to hang in there, and it was good advice. We're all character actors now. Even a handsome man is a character actor at my age.
An Oscar clears the deck of envy and resentment. You think, 'Well, I've got that. I can relax now.'
You can't be angsty all day or else it becomes a sort of pale angst.
Fluency in even one other language would be fantastic.
I'm a child of that, the 'Bonnie and Clyde' to 'Raging Bull' period, you know. Those are the films that heightened my interest in acting and movies and everything.
I regret behaving badly when I was younger. I did not know any better at the time. The thing is that the incidents that I caused were not funny... Youth is wasted on the young. It is better to have the wisdom of an old man in a young body... I was a bit foolish and teased people, trying to be funny.
In today's politics, it would be good to have politicians who are more upfront about what they felt and actually not trying to bend with every breeze. They're infuriating, all of them.
Occasionally, I've been asked to do American roles, and once or twice I have, but I don't understand Americans. I don't have any real feeling for American culture.
It was always important to me to make sure Pooh came across as much more than a bear of very little brain. There is an innate wisdom there somewhere.
It's funny how a film about a murderous old English toff can help you.
In fact I'd like to go back and live in Shakespeare's London.
The world would be a duller place without Moulin Rouge.
A make-up artist I know polished her Oscar and it lost its lustre. But if you don't polish it, it doesn't tarnish.
The films I enjoy seeing are those that reveal lives I was unaware of... in different cultures or whatever.
We've all got a black book of missed opportunities.
I haven't got a writer's discipline.
Oh, I think I've been entirely selfish with my career. I've done what I wanted to do, and not put myself out for anyone else particularly.
It's fatal to talk about acting. It sounds faintly ridiculous if you start analysing it.
I love a really good storyline.
I think we all have a selfish gene which rises to the top, sometimes. But then we're also all capable of a sudden magnanimity.
I like reflecting the culture I understand best, spotting the idiosyncrasies of British people and revealing them to an audience in a way that amuses is what I find fun.
In Hollywood films everything is tidied up at the end with clean lines and clean character definitions. It's sort of unsatisfying.
I'm not that comfortable with actors receiving honours, partly because I think they ought to go to those who really help others.
I do always like to do things I haven't done before, so I'm always looking out for things in a different genre, or a different sort of character.
If you're playing any real person, live or dead, you certainly have a responsibility to produce that reputation in some way.
I never was a great Thatcher fan, and it wasn't a sad day in my life when she resigned.
When you research someone, you actually get beyond your own preconceptions and become aware of the human being other than the image. You become empathetic and sympathetic in turn.
Other people have a much better idea of what I might do than I.
I see myself as a small 'l' liberal, but not coalition liberal, necessarily.
I like being able to go to the supermarket and go on the Tube and have an ordinary domestic life. I'd hate to have to protect myself. I'm quite lucky that I can carry on without any intrusions. I don't get given a hard time by anyone.
People smile at me as if they know me. I just smile back. They probably might know me.
Even for people who live in the country, there is a trepidation now about going outside to play. But it never occurred to us to be fearful when we were young.
It's so easy as a child to identify with 'Winnie-the-Pooh.' The humour doesn't talk down at you. It's a very grown up humour - a little bit ironic, a bit self deprecating.
Even as a child, you can recognise the innocence of Piglet or the strange adult qualities of Eeyore. You just know you are with friends and family.
