If you're serious about what you're doing, you've got to keep your head and follow your instinct. Maybe you won't reach the same dizzy heights as others, but you will get something back.
Jonny Lee Miller
I am constantly disappointing people up in Scotland by not being Scottish!
As far as 'Trainspotting' changing my life, I think I've said before I probably squandered a few opportunities. But I'm fine with that because everything's fine.
It's very strange to become a character: the lines get blurred, and you start to sort of, I don't know, take it home too much?
I'm not great... in large groups of people, but I'm not shy anymore.
That really sets great directors apart from good directors: their ability to make you feel like you matter, even if your part is much smaller. That's one thing I found with most of the great directors I worked with: They all have that skill. Not everyone takes the time.
I was really unfit for a while, so once I began running, I developed an obsession with it and started feeling really good. Then I thought I'd run a marathon after watching the London Marathon on TV. So I did it and had a good time. And then I ended up doing a bunch, and I was like, 'What if I could go further?' So I found out about Ultra Marathons.
I really wouldn't want to live in America. I found New York claustrophobic and dirty. I missed England when I was there, simple things like smells and the British sense of humor.
The whole point of being an actor is to get satisfaction out of a role - unless you're just vain about celebrity. You're always looking for the one thing that will surprise you.
I've never taken myself too seriously, I'm not into that.
Some kids are good at math, some kids can run, and acting was an interest of mine. Because I knew you could do it for a living I decided, that's what I'm going to do.
Even when you're producing difficult material and you get emotional, after it you feel good; you feel like you've done a good job, or had an emotional release. I've always enjoyed that, but you go home and think, that was a good day's work, and you move on.
I consider myself really lucky and I always have done. My approach is that if I know I'm relaxed and happy, then I will do my best work.
New York and LA are both great places to visit, but I wouldn't want to live in either of them now. I find New York extremely claustrophobic and dirty. LA is quite a nice place. But there's no hustle and bustle, no street life.
I'd go anywhere to work, so long as it's worth it.
I don't think any actor has the luxury of knowing exactly what scripts are going to turn out well and what ones aren't. It would be wonderful to have that particular skill, and maybe people like Tom Cruise have it more than most, but you go into each project hoping that a good, if not great, film will come out the other end.
Vampires are immortal, you can do whatever you want, and get away with it. And there's the seduction part of course, sex is a big part of the vampire thing.
I used a bike in London and that's it. I learnt a lot about biking, and really got into. Now I cycle regularly.
I like to play different types roles, but I'd like to do a comedy next.
Theater is just so much more satisfying than film or television just because you deliver the whole thing from start to finish in one evening, and you can tell if people have enjoyed it or not. That's great to do every night to go in front of a full room of people and tell the story. There's nothing like that really.
I spent a couple of months just riding a bike doing my own training in the streets.
The whole thing about the way I approach work is to be surprised by an opportunity when it comes up. So I have no idea what I will be doing next, and I kind of like that.
Being part of 'Natural Nylon' is a great way to have an influence on the films that get out there. I love films and it gives me an input.
You're always looking for good scripts and when they're not always forthcoming you go mad.
I always know I can die at any moment.
I'm a pretty happy person, to be honest with you.
I don't want to talk about the specifics of other people's performances compared with my own. I'd never do that.
If I thought of myself as a movie star, I'd be an idiot. I don't know anyone who thinks like that. I don't even know movie stars who think like that.
I'm glad I don't live in Primrose Hill any more. I couldn't even walk through the park. You never invite that kind of attention.
Some people can handle fame, some can't.
The script for 'Trainspotting' was amazing, and it was different from the book.
It takes a lot to shock me.
I love running.
I think so many men have this really sharp feeling of being a disappointment in their mid-forties. There's probably something chemical about it - the drop of testosterone, the fact that you don't feel the same way physically. It's a real thing. You do tend to feel like a disappointment.
If people know too much about you, I think you become a little less interesting as an actor - your job is to fool people.
I'm not really the cool dude at all.
I believe in Danny Boyle. I really do. I know that he's not going to pull the trigger on something if it's not right.
I try to avoid talking about my personal life, but I certainly don't get angry about it - I just don't talk about it.
I get things in my head every once in a while and decide I must experience them, no matter how ridiculous.
There is nothing, not a thing, like the process of creating a character for the stage - you can't get it anywhere else. Unless you're totally method and spend six months living your life like your character for a film, the theater is the place to get that intense acting experience.
It sounds so incredibly selfish, but you just can't earn the same money doing theater as you can doing television and film. I know that's awful, but you get a mortgage and a family, and suddenly, paying that seems quite important.
I really respect the world that Arthur Conan Doyle created and the way that that has been able to be reinterpreted over and over again.
For me, the most satisfying time to work with people, and time when it really works, is when you work with directors that are into the truth of any sort of situation.
You don't sign up to 'Trainspotting' expecting glamour.
I've done a few marathons. I've done a 50-mile one and even a 100-mile one.
I made some really bad decisions, and I turned a lot of work down and kind of got lost in life.
I find that quite enjoyable, trying to see the downsides of someone.
Attention to detail - Sherlock certainly has that, and my memory is pretty good - but not as good as his.
I've always been, since I was a little kid, and my son is quite observant, too.
