Any actor who judges his character is a fool - for every role you play you've got to absorb that character's motives and justifications..

I do take my work seriously and the way to do that is not to take yourself too seriously..

It would be wonderful to think that the future is unknown and sort of surprising..

I suppose with any good writing and interesting characters, you can have that awfully overused word [...] - a jouuuuuurney..

If only life could be a little more tender and art a little more robust..

Acting is mostly about listening. If you just focus in on what the other person is saying, acting takes care of itself to quite a large extent..

We're dead as a species if we don't tell stories, because then we don't know who we are..

I have every sympathy for writers. It's a mystery to me what they do. I can edit. I can cross out and say, 'I'm not saying that' or, 'How about we mo….

I don't play villains, I play very interesting people.

Actors are agents of change. A film, a piece of theater, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world..

There's a voice inside you that tells you what you should do..

I mean, language fascinates me anyway, and different words have different energies and you can change the whole drive of a sentence..

Give me a window and I'll stare out it..

I've never been able to plan my life. I just lurch from indecision to indecision..

That's it then. Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, and call off Christmas..

All I want to see from an actor is the intensity and accuracy of their listening..

Three children have become adults since a phone call with Jo Rowling, containing one small clue, persuaded me that there was more to Snape than an un….

And it's a human need to be told stories. The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories ….

I'm a lot less serious than people think, it's probably because the way my face is put together..

Talent is an accident of genes - and a responsibility..

I think there should be laughs in everything. Sometimes, it's a slammed door, a pie in the face or just a recognition of our frailties..