Martin Freeman
People misunderstand me.
I have a very extreme state of mind. Things are very black or very white.
This isn't meant to make me sound interesting and rock 'n' roll, but I wouldn't want to live with me a lot of the time.
I'm one of the few people I know who believes in God.
You could say I'm a mod, but with a small 'm'; I don't wear a parka, but I do question what I wear and what I listen to, which is what it's all about.
Most actors are either a shower of bloody scruffs or think they should dress like Hamlet off stage.
Being a mod is more of a sensibility than a style.
I love that pre-mod jazz look of the late Fifties, the Steve McQueen style that influenced the British modernists.
I only really watch my own films, I don't watch any other films and I don't particularly like any other actors.
I can spot someone with similar fashion sense to me a mile off.
My mum was Labour-voting, but wanted us to know we were important. Basically, everyone's equal, but you, my children, are a bit better.
I've never been to a festival. I'm a creature of habit, mashed-potato comfort, I like rugs. Our sofa's squishy. Maybe too squishy - it's hard to get up sometimes.
I don't think it was a surprise that I ended up as an actor, and it was anything but a disappointment.
In London we give ourselves a pat on the back, rightly, for not killing one another, for our prejudice being subtle rather than lethal.
I've always got my eye on my deathbed.
I've got an overly developed sense of what selling out is, and I of course worry about it too much.
There are still things technically about films that I think are a mystery to me and I want to remain a mystery. I don't particularly want to know what everyone's job is because I've got lines to learn.
Acting is the only thing I'm even vaguely good at and acting is something that I think I do know about.
I've got no anti-America or anti-Hollywood kick, it's just that I never wanted to go and kick my heels around L.A. for six months hoping something would happen.
There is nothing far-fetched about disappointment as a subject for comedy. It's something we are all too familiar with.
Comedy can't be about continuous success.
I look like the man in the moon.
I love home. I'd rather be at home than anywhere else.
I like out, I like the outside world.
I buy DVDs. I don't really buy CDs unless they're for other people.
I like things that are simple, such as an alarm clock.
I hate the fact that so much of our life is computerised rather than mechanised.
I didn't audition for 'Fargo.' It was a straight offer.
The reason I've never gone for pilot season even as a younger actor, and wouldn't entertain that sort of thing now, is the idea of signing a piece of paper that binds me for six or seven years.
Sherlock and Watson are a love storyCollection: Stories
Your job, as an actor, is never to just do what you're told. That's boring, and life is too short. It's your job to bring something, and it will either be to other people's taste or your own taste, and you have to try things out. Actors say, "Well, as long as the director's happy," but I don't believe that and I don't agree with that. I want the director to be happy, but if I'm not happy, I won't sleep at night.Collection: Jobs
The great thing about getting older is that you learn not to care about being cool. I'm happy with who I am, I know what I like and I can't see myself changing… not for a little while, at least.Collection: Who I Am
Benedict (Cumberbatch, who is playing Sherlock) looks amazing. He's still got a Sherlockian silhouette, with a large overcoat, but in a classic cut. Watson dresses with an urban elegance, a touch of old school dashing, giving a feeling of both the military and medical profession. I suppose it's something they have in common as well. They're a bit metrosexual.Collection: Military
On the one hand, we're constantly told about recycling and cutting back, and on the other hand we have to buy the next gadget that comes along three weeks after the last one you bought. It's absolutely insane. We've been suckered into buying and buying and upgrading and upgrading. We're being given two very different mantras at the moment, I think.Collection: Cutting
All I can do is just do what I can do and not be hampered by knowing that some people won't like it.Collection: People
Not all Peter Greenaway's stuff is sequential, narrative story. Some of it is like an art installation and I'm not particularly interested in being in an art installation to be honest. I'm interested in the story.Collection: Art
Every actor is riddled with insecurity, of course. But weirdly, I don't really find that I'd be daunted with taking on roles or anything.Collection: Insecurity
However happy the director is, I have to be okay with it. I'm pretty strict with myself, about throwing things out or trying to be true to whatever the situation dictates.Collection: Trying
Like with anything, good writing suggest itself pretty strongly.Collection: Writing
It's a bit like a fledgeling duck, finding your flippers.Collection: Ducks
The one thing I've found is that someone always knows more than you do, including your babies. There are loads of things people presume I know about that I don't.Collection: Baby
Thank you, people of Emmyland. To be nominated in such company is an honour, especially for two shows that I’m immensely proud of. I’m delighted.Collection: Two
I think if you were known for playing something other than being a nice guy then people might be a little less likely to take liberties with you. If you are Ray Winstone, and people have seen you kick a few people to death, then they are a little less likely to approach you or whatever.Collection: Nice
I guess like any friendship, marriage, or whatever it is familiarity breeds more contempt, and more love. They're just more settled with each other now.Collection: Contempt
Sherlock and Watson are a love story.Collection: Stories