I consciously decided not to be a 'London' actor. Those gangster movies made a lot of East End actors think they were movie stars. And I was very aware that they were going to go out of fashion.

There's no great mystery to acting. It's a very simple thing to do but you have to work hard at it. It's about asking questions and using your imagination.

I was brought up in a house full of women; the first time I realised no one was interrupting me was when I was on stage - that's probably the subconscious reason I became an actor.

I used to do a lot of comedy. I don't know what happened. I think it's my face.

What I love about the East End is that theres a great perseverance, determination and courage. What I dislike about it is that there is sometimes a celebration of ignorance.

My business is not to show anybody anything; my job is just to do it.

It's a very fascinating thing for an actor to play somebody who is suffering, and you have to express the suffering, but in an inarticulate way and sometimes a dysfunctional way, through violence.

I wanted to work with Bryan Singer because I like his films.

Different races never fazed me because coming from Bethnal Green, I'd been around people of different races forever. Different class? That was much harder.

I've got four kids to feed and a wife to provide for. It's a worry but a great responsibility as well and one I relish.

I want to be respected as an actor. There's my ego. But I don't have a great need to be liked by an audience.

God lets everything happen for a reason. It's all a learning process, and you have to go from one level to another.

For so many years, I felt so insecure, so inferior, and I still have those moments, but I have a newfound confidence since I got in shape and changed my diet.

Ah, Caviar! I keep on eating it, but can never get my fill. Like olives. It's a lucky thing it's not salty.

If it takes you three years to set up a studio, and you've made one track with that setup, then the logical thing to do is not change anything and just do another one using the same set of sounds.

You want a drumstick? Like a ice cream cone or a chicken wing!?

We are all woven together in the great web of humanity, and whatever we can do to benefit and uplift others will reflect in blessing upon ourselves.

I don't want to be a Hollywood star. I just want to do my job and enjoy it. My aim is to find my true identity and to remain true to myself.

The person who has inspired me my whole life is my Mom, because she taught me commitment. She sacrificed.

My father thought a novel was a broken short story. There's something to that. Many of my favorite novels are novellas. The authors of brief things must reckon with the precision of language.

I did end up doing substitute teaching, but there's not a lot of teaching involved in that.