If you're a serious actor, it's when you know you're going to die tomorrow that you really start to feel it..

No, no, I was only funny on stage, really. I think I was funny as a person toward my classmates when I was very young. You know, when I was a child, ….

But generally speaking, I tend to be quiet and introspective..

The first couple of weeks of filming were quite tricky for me to find my feet with the character [Maigret], which wasn't helped by the story that we ….

ITV and the production company contacted me and asked if I fancied playing the role [of Maigret]. It took me a long time to decide to do it. In fact,….

loved the show as a child and felt I could not do it justice. [on turning down the role of the new Doctor Who.

Nope, I don't enjoy work generally. Not because I'm lazy; it's just all so stressful and worrying..

And, we put a lot more value, or at least I personally put a lot more value, on the creative values and creative challenges of something than the com….

I tend to play rather odd men. People that are slightly odd or eccentric, or have a more particular attitude to life..

Art is something that nobody laughs at and nobody makes any money out of is the attitude, which I would dispute..

When I was doing Bean more than I’ve done him in the last few years, I did strange things - like appearing on chat shows in character as Mr. Bean..

The decision to do it [play Maigret] was related to the fact that the character is a very ordinary man, and generally speaking I haven't played very ….

The Scarlet Pimpernel is the most over-rated human being since Judas Iscariot won the A.D.31 'Best Disciple' competition..

To criticise a person for their race is a manifestly irrational and ridiculous. But to criticise their religion - that is a right. That is a freedom..

Get that right, then- if you get the quality right, then the marketability or whatever; your ability to sell videos or your ability to earn money or ….

I consider myself more of a visual comedian than a physical one..

Although the great frustration about this [role] is the fact that there's one thing Maigret never does, and that's drive. He's always driven, or he t….

We haven't made any particular decision [on Maigret], I haven't been asked if I want to carry on with it. All these things are a matter of whether yo….

For telling a good and incisive religious joke, you should be praised. For telling a bad one, you should be ridiculed and reviled. The idea that you ….

Without wanting to claim that I'm really like James Bond I would certainly prefer to be thought of as closer to James Bond than Mr. Bean most definit….

I have a problem with Porsches. They're wonderful cars, but I know I could never live with one. Somehow, the typical Porsche people-and I wish them n….