Quotes

Playing villains is half the fun, and you may not be an absolute villain yourself, but finding something in the villain, the horrid creature, that you enjoy.

[on his role as Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter movies] I was kicked out in the end because I was just too expensive. It was great fun while it lasted, the boys and girls were all absolutely splendid. I had a ball fooling around with old friends like Maggie Smith. Thanks to those films I get the most extraordinary amount of fan mail from all over the world, even China.

[on Daniel Craig] I don't think he's a good actor, but he's very good at jumping.

[on Dominic West as Richard Burton] He was hopeless. He wasn't tough enough, he wasn't dangerous enough, he wasn't Welsh enough.

[on Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth Taylor] She was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. She got the spirit of her and sounded like her.

[on Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill] Absolutely awful.

[on Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill] From everything I've seen and heard, Oldman's portrayal of Churchill is far more convincing than some other recent portrayals. He certainly looks the part, he's undergone a remarkable transformation. But it's not just his appearance--he's managed to catch the essence of the man.

It's important to get the little details right. It's not just the look, but stance, style and speech, too. It took me nine months of preparation to get Churchill right the first time I played him, back in 1981 in the drama series "The Wilderness Years" for ITV.

If you're going to play somebody, you've got to try to capture that person. If Churchill was a bit much to our modern eye, well, so be it - let's have an over-the-top Churchill! If you're asked to play a dog, it's no use being a pussycat!

[on Albert Finney as Winston Churchill] He's a thorough actor and he did a fine job.

There was a very musical element in Churchill's speaking, and the danger of trying to get the voice, and making it simply repetitive, is a very real risk.