The big stars I felt a kinship with were never the romantic leads. It wasn't Steve McQueen or Robert Redford - it was people like Walter Matthau and Anthony Quinn. My big hero was Tommy Cooper.

I've been acting for 25 years, living out of suitcases on theater tours or film locations.

You're suspended sixty feet up in the air, you've been up there for three hours, and all the shot requires is that you have to sort of react to getting punched in the head.

I love playing villains.

I've always been terrified about being bored. I always think being bored is the worst thing. The only strategic decision I ever made as an actor was to try and make each job as different as possible.

There are many actors who have inspired me: Spencer Tracy for his incredible elegance and, of course, Cary Grant. But, there's also an Italian actor I admire a great deal: Alberto Sordi.

I've worked with actors who treat the first two takes like rehearsals. And that's okay. If the camera is on you and we're doing a scene where I'm off camera, I'm treating that as a rehearsal.

Music is an essential part of my life and I'm completely lost without a good album to listen to or my iPod in my pocket!

My wife and I use a lot of garlic and rosemary with roast lamb. It has to be New Zealand lamb. The domestic variety is too gamy, in my experience.

I love working fast. I don't relish the director who wants to do 25 to 30 takes, or the actors who insist on doing 25 or 30 takes.

Screen work always boils down to that moment between the camera and the actor or the actors. It always boils down to that, ultimately. You serve the camera.

The propriety of a law, in a constitutional light, must always be determined by the nature of the powers upon which it is founded.

It seems to be in fashion among Russian politicians to blame Berezovsky for everything. Soon they'll be holding him responsible for global warming, earthquakes and tsunamis.

I feel that there is reason lurking in you somewhere, so we will patiently grope round for it.

Choosing our own aims and seeking to bring them to fruition creates a sense of vitality and motivation in life. The only things that derail our efforts are fear and oppression.

Better to have bad news that's true than good news we made up

It was nothing personal: if it had been, I would have left him on so he could have suffered like everyone else.

My friend is one... who take me for what I am.

My aim is: to teach you to pass from a piece of disguised nonsense to something that is patent nonsense.

Cindy is a terrific writer and has both a studied - and an intuitive - understanding of the best practices of no-hype, high results copywriting.

Leaks and whispers are a daily routine of news-gathering in Washington.