I don't mean this grandly, but it was never my intention to live in L.A. and do a big network show.

We are not telling Tudor history; we are creating ' Wolf Hall ' from novels, which are already a rereading of Tudor history.

For me the rehearsal period is the part I most enjoy. It's the creating of the story.

I've always had a 'Work hard, play hard' attitude to life - I still do - but sometimes you get involved in something that needs a calm, methodical approach.

You know what it's like to feel anxious - it's horrible feeling anxious. It's stressful having that feeling, having butterflies in your stomach, even for a day, and you don't sleep at night.

I think people like to be scared. I think people like tension and suspense in a movie.

You can't do something that is morally vacuous or dysfunctional and then write it off saying, 'It wasn't my film, I was just doing a job in it.'

People need revelation, and then they need resolution.

My heroes were all in the theatre.

I think you can't be really posh and be an interesting actor. I'm a bit of a posh rough.

Temperamentally I'm not a natural producer, because I don't have the patience.

No God, no messiah, no prophet can grant your wishes – it is only through your own efforts that you can make your wishes come true – it is only you who can grant your own wishes.

We may not know whether our understanding is correct, or whether our sentiments are noble, but the air of the day surrounds us like spring which spreads over the land without our aid or notice.

Our minds can shape the way a thing will be because we act according to our expectations.

The writing of the script is a continual process. There's the first draft and then many, many re-writes here and there.

We are about to make motherhood a crime. No civilized government in the history of mankind has ever done this.

If I'm playing well I'll get through a bat in three weeks. I batter them.

I stayed in show business to pay for my animal business.

The integrity that lives only on opinion would starve without it.

People get to like a soul, but a satisfactory hat makes an impression at first sight.

Dancing - that's really what I do at parties. I dance and I hang out with friends. That's my partying.