Tom Ellis

Actor

45 Quotes

I'm in the Apple store on Regent Street far too much; I'm obsessed by whatever the latest Apple gadget is. For clothes, I love to shop in Liam Gallagher's shop Pretty Green on Carnaby Street, or Cult Clothing in Crouch End, for Original Penguin and G-Star.

To be in a show like 'Miranda' that captures everyone's imagination is amazing, but it's hard when people can't see beyond that. I started travelling to North America because 'Miranda' was so popular in the U.K.; I always knew I wanted to challenge myself and not go for the obvious roles.

In terms of, like, getting into a mindset, I use music all the time when I'm working.

There's something really charming about a character that is fundamentally flawed and does some pretty despicable things, but yet you still kind of love him.

I turn to my wife for everything. Her success has never affected her as a person - she's incredibly loyal. We laugh together; we share everything, and she still surprises me. When I saw her in 'Sweet Charity,' I was so proud to say, 'That's my wife.'

One of the biggest heroes and influences of mine, especially acting and working in comedy, is Steve Coogan.

When I was eight or nine, I came to London for the day from Swindon and went to The National Gallery. I remember standing in Trafalgar Square with my best friend Tim, who was covered in pigeons because I put bird seed on his head.

I grew up on the very human side of Christianity, so messages in the household I grew up in were about peace, love, and being understanding of everybody, which I think is quite cool.

I couldn't afford to go to drama school in London. Then I met with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, and I fell in love with the city. It was one of the few schools that offered me a place. It didn't do me any harm.

I come from a religious family - my father is a pastor, my uncle, my sister and her husband are a pastor team.

During the pilot, director Len Wiseman and I discussed how Lucifer views humanity, and we can came up with this notion that he sees them as lab rats.

A lot of actors would tell you that they'd rather play the villain than the hero. When you're the character, there are no repercussions. So there is a kind of liberating feeling about saying certain things to certain people - and I think that it's always quite satisfying to do that.

The weird thing about drama school is that you train for three years for one thing, and then, more often than not, it's something that you haven't trained for that you end up doing.

My take on 'Lucifer' was pretty much laid down by Tom Kapinos when he wrote the original pilot script for it. I remember reading it for the first time, and I was about four or five pages in, thinking this is so funny, and I know how I would want to do this if I was going to do it.

I think I've started to dream in American a little bit.

I've been acting for 15 years now, and the more you do, the more confidence you get about 'this is my career, and this is what I'm going to be doing.' Since I've started coming to the States, I've had a really great response. It's given me a lot of confidence to be more judicious about my own choices.

Pilot season's such a strange time. You get such a concentrated amount of scripts. A lot of them become white noise after a while. When something really pops, it becomes apparent very quickly. I'm quite instinctive about that. I know, normally by about 10 pages in, whether I want to do something or not.

The last TV show I really indulged in was 'Breaking Bad,' and I was in such a state of mourning when it ended. I've got to choose my next one carefully.

Lucifer has a sense of fun about life; he just likes to play with people. But the sense of humor of the show is what makes the show entertaining as opposed to dark.

It's always fun to play bad characters.

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