Samuel West Quotes

It would've been hard to do something else, to as it were, run away from the circus and become an accountant.

At heart, this job is about continuing to make great theatre for the people of Sheffield - a city I've known and loved since childhood.

We'll be back. I promise you that.

The idea that if you are very clever you shouldn't be an actor would be laughable in Russia.

Of course 'Hamlet' is a debate about the nature and morality of revenge and whether it is right to do something to assuage your angry feelings.

Most actors are socialists, aren't they?

When you are in a bad production there are two things you can do. You can do your best or you can leave. I chose to do the third thing which was sulk.

I am a coward, basically, but one of the things about acting is that you are always putting yourself through yet another test.

I'm rather proud of having been a trainspotter.

What I do believe is theatre is a medium with a peculiar ability to air vital issues.

When people say, 'If I had my life over again I wouldn't do anything different,' well, I'd do everything differently just for the variety.

Shakespeare I love, but for an English graduate, I'm incredibly badly read.

If you play a part that's been done before, on stage for instance, you feel like you're carrying a torch and staggering under the weight of it for a bit and then passing it on to somebody else.

What did my parents say when I told them I wanted to be an actor? 'Be a plumber.'

I usually play toffs and soldiers, with a sideline in mass murderers.

I absolutely love working with my dad because there is such an ease about it, and I also love his company.

My one remaining professional ambition is to read the shipping forecast. I live in hope.

Where licentiousness begins, liberty ends.

Most good art is left wing. It's a moot point whether there is any good right-wing art.