Quotes

It's interesting that in searching for monsters to play you often end up playing leaders.

[on playing "Castor" in Tron: Legacy (2010)] I wanted him to be like a sort of popular-culture jukebox program and, then underneath it all, there's something completely psychotic going on.

Having played a lot of characters that are dangerously close to caricature, there's something I've always found, and that is: everything you do has to be connected to the source of what the character really is.

My job takes me away from my daughter Lily a lot, so when I am with her the time is precious. When I'm filming I try to speak to her every day and let her know that I'm thinking of her and hopefully stay a presence in her life. I want Lily to have a parent who is enjoying and is passionate about their work but at the same time I don't want it to be something that takes me away from her too much.

I do think there's a kind of a dark energy in Port Talbot. It's dominated by the steelworks, where there's this fire that's pumping out energy every day, and I think that is a good symbol for a kind of restless, fiery energy.

I'm definitely passionate and obsessed, and maybe that is a result of where I grew up. There was a real anger to south Wales in the 1970s and '80s when industries were dismantled and people's livelihoods were being messed up. There was a lot of unemployment and depression. I look at actors like Burton and Hopkins, and what they have in common is a dark anger that comes out in their acting. They're at their best when they're letting all that anger go. I can also see that in me.

There's a great deal to be said about talent and inspiration but hard work is the most important in terms of being able to do anything well.

My tragedy is that all I want is a dog, and yet I have been cursed with cats all my life.

Getting older is a struggle. I always feel that just under the surface of acceptance and enjoyment of the aging process is a terrible hysteria just waiting to burst out.

On the one hand Twitter gives you the opportunity to engage with people, which is great, but on the other there are people who feel they can say whatever they want, put poison out there, really, without fear of any repercussions.

'Hamlet' is one of the most dangerous things ever set down on paper. All the big, unknowable questions like what it is to be a human being; the difference between sanity and insanity; the meaning of life and death; what's real and not real. All these subjects can literally drive you mad.

I am very impatient.

I love watching Jeff Bridges act. He's brilliant.

Part of the fun of life is interacting with people and not knowing what the truth is inside. Letting them reveal that to you is what binds you to people.

I think parenthood is a wonderful balancing act. On the one hand, you want to spend as much time with your children as possible. On the other hand, you want to set an example for them to see that you're fulfilled in your life and in your work.

I think the story of 'Alice in Wonderland' in a way is a reminder that life is frightening, it can shift on you at any moment.

Hopefully, any character I play has an anchor in reality.

By the time you are 30 you are still trying to make your 15-year-old self happy but you are a different person. You need to be brave and let go of that.

A parent can seem very kind and gentle, but as any child knows, as soon as that parent gets stressed, they can suddenly turn and get a bit angry.

My taste in watching things runs from dramas and low-budget films to high-end fantasy/science fiction.

I always say if I'm not good at something it's just because I've not had time to focus on it... it's just uncrafted, like a slab of rock that contains the statue of David within it.

For a culture that has such a problem with death, we seem to deal with it in a quite bizarre way. We see people shot, killed and blown up, and we find it funny and sexy and all those things. But, the reality of it is that every day people die, and people are really sad and they grieve and they go through a really difficult process with it.

I think a good story's a good story and a good character's a good character.

A lot of children are interested in fairies, especially young girls, and Tinker Bell is the ueber-fairy. She's the pin-up girl of fairies. She's the ultimate fairy, but she's also got a mischievous spirit and she's very strong-willed. I think a lot of youngsters recognize themselves in Tinker Bell.

Acting itself is quite scary. Some people say that actors are show-offs, very egotistical and all that kind of stuff, but it is quite scary.

My chief gifts are - naturally good at all sports with a raw talent for pretty much everything, which if nurtured could develop into improper talent.

As a general thing, I've always been drawn to characters who appear to be one thing on the surface, but are actually something else underneath.

I suppose I'm something of an eccentric dresser.

I enjoy doing things that involve research because it's part of what I enjoy about acting.

I was obsessed with football when I was growing up.

I perceive and relate to the world through where I grew up; that's part of me. It's what I judge everything else against.

If someone has an ability to impress an audience there's a tendency to be tempted into doing just that.

Everyone deserves compassion.

I would like to be taller, thinner and more rakish looking.

I think I'm becoming more relaxed in front of a camera. I suppose I'll always feel slightly more at home on stage. It's more of an actor's medium. You are your own editor, nobody else is choosing what is being seen of you.

I find increasingly that the more extreme are the things going on in your life, the more cultural reference points fail you. More mythical reference points actually help, and you realize that's what myths are for. It's for human beings to process their experience in extremis.

I'm not a Tony Blair impersonator.

I cry when I feel moved by incredible generosity or a connection to someone. We spend so much of our lives being separated. It's the relief of connection that produces the tears.

I think it's quite tough for people like Tom Cruise where you can never really get away from being Tom Cruise in something. You're so familiar to people and people know so much about your life.

When I was at drama school, I wanted to change the world, and thought I had some great wisdom to impart to people about humanity. Now that I'm older, I know enough to realize that I know nothing at all.

If you can define what God is, I can tell you whether I believe in it.

I think the best acting is when you allow yourself to be kind of vulnerable in the moment.

I have a daughter, and fairies meant a lot to her growing up.

You know, we're each the hero of our own story and we perceive what's going on around us, and especially in a relationship, from the kind of viewpoint of, 'Well, this is my story, and I'm the hero of that, and I justify what I do around it.'

For me, what makes life enjoyable is having a shared culture and shared references.

I've always loved animation and animated films.

When you look at all the miracles attributed to Jesus, they're all about change.

I can be a lazy dresser.

The secret to acting is don't act. Be you, with add-ons.

Although my family - parents and sister - all work in the personnel management business, their real passion is performing, amateur operatic societies and so on.