No Western government has ever played the long-term in terms of foreign policy.

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.

It’s worth burning myself out like a matchso long as others receive the light and warmth I dispatch.

When we dream, there are no facts. Just imagination!

Have you been hitting the wine or my mother's brownies again?

Indeed, these people are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.

How do you fill the space between, "God says it, " and, "I believe it, "?

When the people become involved in their government, government becomes more accountable, and our society is stronger, more compassionate, and better prepared for the challenges of the future.

My mother totally protected me as a model. She took me on every look-see, she was there on the set if I wanted her to be.

Commit to stop making excuses. When we make excuses, we lie to ourselves and continue bad habits.

Dancing is a gift. You are supposed to do it; it's like breathing.

The critic's hankering to be law-giver rather than servant of literature is irrepressible.