Actor

The universe starts off with the Big Bang theory, and the first thing that emerged from the Big Bang is essentially hydrogen and then helium. And that's what combusts in stars. Finally, stars implode, and they build heavier elements out of that. And those heavier elements are reconstituted in the heart of other stars, eventually.

I've always been attracted to films which explore the qualities of courage.

In the film world, we can all be heroes. In the real world, where heroism can cost you your life or the life of the ones you love, people aren't so willing to make those sacrifices. When they do, they are set apart from the rest of us.

Sometimes you learn more from films that aren't terribly successful and, indeed, sometimes you learn more from real disasters than you do from the ones that succeed.

To be an actor for 30-odd years trying to become recognized, and to end up playing a full prosthetic and a character 3 foot 9', or something like that, is... well, it just shows that you can get actors to do anything.

I found it marvelous that the great supporters of America in Europe are, of course, those countries that American consistency and firmness in the Cold War ended up liberating.

I do not want to see a society where, should I ever have any, my granddaughters have their fingernails pulled out because they are wearing nail varnish.

Faith is not a rational thing, and yet to understand the universe, rationality alone will not give it to us. Our understanding of the universe must transcend the rational.

I hate being out of work!

I used to fly airplanes myself, so being above the ground doesn't worry me too much.

When you get back to fundamental questions - 'Why should anything exist?' A, I'm not sure what the answer is in terms of the science, and B, I'm not sure that science can even ask that question.

Villains are a lot of fun. My villains have a lot of tongue-in-cheek. They are sometimes conscious of and a little bit gleeful of their villainy.

Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg are men at the top of their game, and Jackson especially is going to change the nature of film-making.

I think 'The Lost World' could've been a successful movie except for the fact that it pre-dated the good special effects and computer graphics.

If you cannot have fun on a set and enjoy what you're doing, you're better off giving it up.

Spying is a like a game of chess: Sometimes you have to withdraw, sometimes you have to sacrifice one of your pieces to win - preferably a knight rather than a king or queen.

Films are fun, but life is much richer.

Western Europeans are not having any babies.

I have a lot of respect for aspects of Islam, but I would not choose to live in a theocratically organised Muslim society.

Actors are always looking for actor-proof parts. A part so good you can't screw it up!