Kenneth Branagh
Many of us live in dysfunctional families, and so even if it's in a fairy tale, or perhaps because it's in a fairy tale, we have a chance to look at that side of our reflected lives differently.Collection: Chance
Being Irish, I always had this love of words.Collection: Saint
One of the things that makes Hamlet unique among Shakespeare's characters is his courage to face up to the darker elements of his personality.Collection: Courage
I think that short films often contain an originality, a creative freedom, an energy and an invention that is inspiring and entertaining. I think they are, as Shakespeare put it, a good deed in a naughty world.Collection: Freedom
Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, laugh more, and don't get so worked up about things.Collection: Life
I am very much looking forward to new adventures - including, I hope, Broadway - sooner rather than later.Collection: Hope
Friendship is one of the most tangible things in a world which offers fewer and fewer supports.Collection: Friendship
I was stuck in a wheelchair playing this deranged villain. I felt this mass amount of rage at being so confined. I thought, 'What can I do that is the direct opposite of this situation?' The only thing I could think of was that I could sing and dance.
For a nanosecond in the pre-Internet pre-digital age, I was a hot young actor, in the sense of popular, and then it passed.
I'm involved in Northern Ireland Screen and have been for a long time, so I keep my eyes open and ears to the ground.
'The Painkiller' is a remarkable play.
Sir Derek Jacobi has been an inspiration to so many actors and audiences throughout his brilliant career. To see him in Shakespeare is an event in itself.
How many times do you read about 'the Cinderella story,' the story of the underdog, the story of the ordinary human being, often subjected to cruelty and ignorance and neglect, who somehow triumphs?
Probably 90 percent of the stuff I make has inevitably been done before... Whether it's playing Hamlet, which has been on the go for 400 years, or pieces from the cinematic world that also have been essayed before, I feel released by that.
I fondly remember good times working on 'Thor.'
I think what you're always looking for as artists is to be honest and to continue to be honestly driven by that which you are passionately engaged with. It should need not be forced.
Life is surreal and beautiful.
I am a long-time hide-behind-the-sofa-in-the-early-Doctor Who-in-the-1960s fan.
I liked the fact that 'My Week With Marilyn' wasn't a biopic.
I was studying at the Royal Academy of Arts, and I was playing the role of Dr. Ivan Chebutikin in Chekov's 'Three Sisters.' I was about 50 years too young for the part.
I'm always interested in contemporary fiction.
I was a big admirer of F.D.R. He saved Britain.
What happens is that with difficult processes on a film, they get very intensely compressed because a clock is ticking.
Carrying a movie is both a great privilege, it's a great opportunity, but it can be a great pressure, and sometimes that can make people behave very oddly.
Do you know what I feel about Dr. Who's? I feel the same way as I do about the Bonds. I love them all. I love them all! I don't have favorites.
I would say my voice is actor-neutral.
In 'Henry V,' the story of the assumption of true and responsible leadership by Henry I think is hard-won. He has to lose friends; he has to risk his life.
The records - what little we know about Shakespeare, including the records of the plays in his playhouse - were often the story of how quickly they came off if they didn't work. They had to move on. They were absolutely led by box office.
Sometimes I used to think to myself, 'Have I lost a sense of humor?' but I don't think that I have. I think one can be as snarky and sarcastic as lots of people, but I have never found that it makes me particularly happy.
You can't live in nostalgia-land.
A creative and artistic home is what I've been looking for in the theatre.
I come from the theatre; my bones are in the theatre. It's as natural as breathing to want to be in the theatre.
I'm interested in creating new work.
I live in the English countryside, so I'm surrounded by magpies.
It's funny to be in rooms where you were originally referred to as 'The Shakespeare Guy' and to suddenly be in the position where you're 'The Blockbuster Guy.' That's a pretty unusual turnabout, I must say.
I think that Shakespeare himself raided fairy tales and chronicle writers, and he always looked to people who worked in the mythic genres, whether it was folk tales or popular novels.
I think we love the escapism of something like 'Cinderella,' and I think we do with 'Thor.'
Shakespeare's always on my dance card if it can be.
I went to a comprehensive school and didn't go to university.
'Frankenstein' feels like an ancient tale, the kind of traditional story that appears in many other forms.
In the course of my lifetime, that world went from violence to a kind of peace.
I've always loved pure, silly slapstick comedy. It always makes me laugh.
The Chinese say, 'It's good to live in interesting times.'
I suppose, at 50, you value things in a different way. So you value connections, you value your friendships, you value your health, and you are much more aware of time passing.
In the case of 'Jack Ryan,' it was a huge collaboration, and I enjoyed it very much, and most of all, I want the audience to enjoy it, too. I want them to feel immersed in this world.
A lot of the films I've done have links to other movies that I've directed in the past.
I love thrillers, and I always have.
I went to Moscow and met some slightly powerful and scary people.
I suppose that was my first bit of acting, the acquisition of an English accent. It was really just an attempt to be understood.
I think that music is crucially important in Shakespeare - and, clearly, was an important part of the Elizabethan theatre. And, it's always been something that was a profound element of the experience of Shakespeare that I have been drawn to - and interpreters have, as well.