David Thewlis
I could, of course, have written about the film world and the jealousy there and the frequent belief that others don't have talent. But, for some reason, it just struck me to write about art.Collection: Jealousy
When I'm sat in the pub with my mates, they've got their stories: Richard and Tracy have split up, they went to Arsenal and this fight broke out... My anecdotes are like, 'I was in this bar, and Michelle Pfeiffer rang, and I had wax in my ear, so I couldn't hear what she was saying...'
You become judged entirely on your ability to bring in the dollars, and the fact that none of the films I did was a huge hit became significant.
People sometimes say, 'Why do you choose a part?' and sometimes it's not that I chose it but that that was the one that came along.
I did 'Basic Instinct 2' because I had a baby about to be born, and the director said we could shoot before the due date.
Everybody knows someone like that: wonderful, attractive people full of passion and ideals. You envy them, but you know there's a dark side, which is brutal and cruel and violent. That dark side informs what's wonderful about them, and the passion and rage inform the darkness; they're inseparable.
'An Inspector Calls' is a British classic, and I am thrilled to be working on this beautiful screen adaptation with Aisling Walsh.
I've always tended to write comedy, but I'd hate to just write some kind of sitcom or a lighthearted series of jokes and slapstick. I wanted to talk about some deeper things within the comedy.
I would consider myself one of the least misogynistic men in the country - if anything, just the opposite.
I'm much more Buddhist. I mean, I'm not a Buddhist. I should be so lucky to be a Buddhist, a real Buddhist, but of all the things I investigated, that seems to make the most sense to me.
I kind of drifted into acting through a series of coincidences.
I had no idea how one became an actor. I didn't know things such as drama schools existed. It all just sort of happened accidentally.
It's not the easiest thing to have two actors in a family.
It was so boring, and 'Dragonheart' was so unchallenging - there was no research involved or any rehearsal. So I was in my hotel room every night with no English-language TV except 'Beavis and Butt-head' at 10 o'clock every night.
I've never been that bothered about doing stage or television. I just love doing films. With theatre, it goes on night after night.
One can only improvise what one knows.
'Naked' propelled me into a whole other league. America started calling. I went over to Los Angeles and met all those people, and I started doing a few American films of various levels of quality.
It's not my ambition to direct lots of films. I think if I direct one film in my whole life, why rush it?
I don't think its good for the soul to invest too much of yourself in technology.
I don't think they should trust anything that happens in 'Fargo' at all, and I'm sure 'Fargo' fans know not to make the mistake of trusting too much.
I think Varga is a manifestation, certainly, and someone who can thrive and profit from the world's failure and has worked out the operation, whatever the operation may be, that he's about, which will remain a mystery.
What is truth? What is a true story? Who is telling the truth, and what is truth in this world today?
I've realized over the years I either play very good people or very bad people, and I think I always enjoy the very bad people more.
I enjoy things that are so far away from me; that's why, when I play things that are a little bit closer to me, I get really bored. When it's something that's the antithesis of what I am, there's much more to lose yourself in.
I think I've had more fun playing Varga than I've had for quite a number of years playing anything.
I often draw from people in my own experience to base a character on, going back to my days with Mike Leigh.
The whole question of 'What is truth?' seemed to be the theme of Trump's presidency.
I was a young actor in my 20s, going out in Soho, having a wild time.
I often do that with characters, going back to my bloody drama-school days, in terms of equating them with creatures. And it's very much there as a theme of all the seasons of 'Fargo' as well: the predator and the prey.
I got hooked to American news like a great TV season. It plays like fiction. I would come home from work, and I would put it on, and I would stay up until 2 in the morning watching it and get up in the morning and watch it.
A lot of the city boys in London, a lot of the hedge-fund, young city workers at the height of the financial boom were a lot of working-class, brilliantly minded young fellows and women.
I wanted to do 'Fargo' rather than do a TV production. I've been offered TV things over the years, but usually, that's about that I don't want to be away from home for that long because it's a long time to be away your home country and my family.
As soon as I have the script in my hand, I'll be up in my apartment room pacing up and down learning it because it's just such a lovely thing to do.
'Harry Potter' is very nice because it's very easy to make children happy. All you have to do is have your photograph taken with them.
That's one of the main things I've learned: honesty is paramount. The biggest thing I try and instil in my daughter. My deepest regrets have been to do with times that I've been dishonest. There's nothing worse than getting caught out in a lie. It's excruciatingly embarrassing.
For years, I've been mistaken for Rhys Ifans. All the time. People come up and say, 'Notting Hill?' I nearly got beaten up once for not being Rhys.
I'm often cast as religious figures, good and bad, such as 'Kingdom Of Heaven.'
It wasn't a good idea to work on 'Naked' in the first months of a marriage. I was living apart from my wife in a flat overflowing with books I was reading for the part.
It's a bit odd to have a daughter who sounds American.
I think the most beautiful sound is a child laughing.
I keep myself content by doing lots of different stuff and make sure that my next role is completely different to the last. I just enjoy the versatility of it, the challenge of doing lots of different things. It keeps the job interesting.
I had grown up in a toy shop in Blackpool and then moved to London to do an acting course.
No matter what one looks at and finds temporarily pleasing, it can never be as beautiful as just a tree, really.
In 'Seven Years In Tibet,' I played a Buddhist. But I'm not religious at all, really.
I must have read three-quarters of 'Anna Karenina' on my phone. Which might be a record.
I don't worry. I'm more stoical. Of course I have insecurities. I fear getting older. I fear death and illness. I'm not prone to depression, but I get depressed because everybody gets depressed. Suddenly I'm away from my family or doing a job I'm not enjoying.
I don't think Alfonso was a big expert on Potter either. He was feeling his way through it more than I was.
I had such a nice time making it, and I can't wait to make the fifth one. The whole crew were just really, really lovely. All the costume people, the make-up girls, the kids - even my driver.
And it was only released in London last week, so when I go back to England Monday or whatever, I am expecting heaps of adulation. I'm hoping there is. If that doesn't happen I will be disappointed.
The very best thing about doing it is seeing the reaction on kid's faces when you tell them you've done it.