A cello's soul is the resonance that makes it unique: how it was made, when it was made, who's played it. Mine may be who my parents were, what I know about life, who I love and have loved. All that makes my bones resonate. If a director is fortunate enough to tap into that, it's an endless well of information. |
As a singer, I might have fallen among thieves. I wonder if I'd still be alive by now. |
As an actor there's no autonomy, unless you're prepared to risk the possibility of starving. |
Being a leading man on a film set under the direction of somebody like Dickie Attenborough is very empowering, and you have to be extremely careful how you use that power. |
But comedy I'd love to do as much as humanly possible. |
But filming is good for you, because the crew isn't allowed to laugh. You can't get addicted to getting the laugh. |
Cold Mountain's |
Ever since I did Sexy Beast in 1999 my career has been very busy and very rewarding. It's a wonderful time for me, |
Every time we got something into the camera it was as if we were saying to the 6 million ghosts -- with a wry smile on our faces, and a sense of accomplishment -- ''That's for you!'' [On shooting Schindler's List] |
Everything that's made me what I am today is part of that process of being intrigued and curious. But I really couldn't put my finger on any specific trigger from my childhood. |
Fifteen years before I became a screen actor, I was in the theatre. A lot of my work was comedy, which I loved doing. It's harder. |
Filming is so much to do with rhythm, as is music, and if it isn't there then you know in the end nobody can save it really, they can't. |
Great drama deals with the struggle for people's selves. You see it on the screen. Everyone is involved with the struggle with their own soul, struggling for that soul and to possess that soul. |
Hamlet is an astonishing intelligence. |
Hopefully, as I get older in the business, I make my choices more accurately, and I perhaps know from either the script or the first meeting that it isn't going to work. |