There were no spells at my school, just a smack in the mouth.

There are some actors who are rehearsal actors, and some who are not. I am not. Having said that, I don't know what I am talking about.

I'm an anorak. I've always been an obsessive collector of things. Richard Briers collects stamps. I collect cars and guns, which are much more expensive, and much more difficult to store.

There's no subtext in Harry Potter really; it's all magic, anything can happen. Why do I say this? Because it's a magic spell. It's quite nice in a way. There is a real freedom to it.

Like a heartbeat. Something inside me. Some dream. I think it's being a dreamer as a child. Dreamy kids become actors, don't they?

A child did approach me in a restaurant in Cornwall, but he thought I was Gandalf.

I'm very flower-like. I love classical music. I go to ballet and I cry. There's nothing so beautiful.

Television has dried up for my generation, so its plays and films.

I belong to quite a lot of learned societies. We collect firearms and discuss them at dinners and clubs and things.

I promise myself that I would go and do a play every year.

You get used to being lazy doing films, but classical theatre's going to finish me off.

Be like Jesus. Live love, speak love, think love…..do all things in love.

If Scientists Like Einstein didn't exist, we wouldn't never know about the Universe

Well, in that case, no. I’m not your father. But if you go with another definition, meaning ‘a man who wants to be in your life and help raise you, ’ then yes. I am.

I wouldn't change a thing about what I've done in the past because what may have been bad choices have all led me to this moment.

The equation for ego is: One over Knowledge.

It was never my direct intention to do anything particularly medium-defying.

If you really want to understand something, the best way is to try and explain it to someone else.

I don't worry about overexposure [in work], I think it's important just to go in, and think about quality work and try to put the best movies out.

I think that any time you're able to get a guy like Carmelo Anthony to be on your team, you're going to be a step up.

A library's ideal function is to be a little bit like a bouquiniste's stall, a place for trouvailles.