Michael Sheen
For a culture that has such a problem with death, we seem to deal with it in a quite bizarre way. We see people shot, killed and blown up, and we find it funny and sexy and all those things. But, the reality of it is that every day people die, and people are really sad and they grieve and they go through a really difficult process with it.Collection: Sad
'Hamlet' is one of the most dangerous things ever set down on paper. All the big, unknowable questions like what it is to be a human being; the difference between sanity and insanity; the meaning of life and death; what's real and not real. All these subjects can literally drive you mad.Collection: Death
When I was at drama school, I wanted to change the world, and thought I had some great wisdom to impart to people about humanity. Now that I'm older, I know enough to realise that I know nothing at all.Collection: Wisdom
Stories have always been the things that entertain me and make me feel happy and sad and move me and give me the experience of being able to live many lives in one lifetime. It's the best thing about being alive.Collection: Sad
The secret to acting is don't act. Be you, with add-ons.
A lot of children are interested in fairies, especially young girls, and Tinker Bell is the ueber-fairy. She's the pin-up girl of fairies. She's the ultimate fairy, but she's also got a mischievous spirit and she's very strong-willed. I think a lot of youngsters recognize themselves in Tinker Bell.
I'm not a Christian.
I can be a lazy dresser.
If you can define what God is, I can tell you whether I believe in it.
I think the best acting is when you allow yourself to be kind of vulnerable in the moment.
I enjoy doing things that involve research because it's part of what I enjoy about acting.
Hopefully, any character I play has an anchor in reality.
Everyone deserves compassion.
My tragedy is that all I want is a dog, and yet I have been cursed with cats all my life.
I think when you work on a Woody Allen film the actors become a real company, probably more than on any other film.
I would never use prosthetics. I don't like sticking things on. I don't really like wearing wigs, either.
I cry when I feel moved by incredible generosity or a connection to someone. We spend so much of our lives being separated. It's the relief of connection that produces the tears.
I love watching Jeff Bridges act. He's brilliant.
I've always found it hard to say sorry.
Getting older is a struggle. I always feel that just under the surface of acceptance and enjoyment of the ageing process is a terrible hysteria just waiting to burst out.
My chief gifts are - naturally good at all sports with a raw talent for pretty much everything, which if nurtured could develop into improper talent.
I always say if I'm not good at something it's just because I've not had time to focus on it... it's just uncrafted, like a slab of rock that contains the statue of David within it.
I've always had an eye for what looks good on a man. But I've not always found it easy to find clothes that look good on me.
I suppose I'm something of an eccentric dresser.
I try not to pay any attention to clothes fascism and I'd rather be thought of as someone who has his own sense of style.
I was obsessed with football when I was growing up.
A parent can seem very kind and gentle, but as any child knows, as soon as that parent gets stressed, they can suddenly turn and get a bit angry.
Although my family - parents and sister - all work in the personnel management business, their real passion is performing, amateur operatic societies and so on.
It's weird that I've ended up playing so many real live people, because I was never any good at impersonations at school.
I don't want to do something that I've done before; I can't see the point of it.
In some ways any film that you do has an artificiality about it. Even when you're doing the most kitchen-sinky, gritty, realistic scene you've still got 50 people standing around watching you with cameras and lights and things.
My taste in watching things runs from dramas and low-budget films to high-end fantasy/science fiction.
My rule of thumb is that I want to do things I'd like to go and see myself.
I live a very Kenneth Williams-like existence.
I perceive and relate to the world through where I grew up; that's part of me. It's what I judge everything else against.
There are times in my career where I can see it would be helped by having a bit more of a profile, but it's not like I refuse to do interviews, no, not at all.
If someone has an ability to impress an audience there's a tendency to be tempted into doing just that.
I am prone to get carried away thinking about creative projects.
I'm not a Tony Blair impersonator.
A lot of the times when I've auditioned for parts in America, the answer is, 'Sorry, we need a bigger name.'
I suppose I've got a reputation for playing quite extreme characters and making them quite believable.
I've never met anyone normal.
Normal people - i.e., people who aren't actors - are the most bizarre people you can ever come across. I'll talk to someone and come away thinking, 'They are clinically insane.'
I would like to be taller, thinner and more rakish looking.
I am very impatient.
My dad is a Jack Nicholson lookalike and a frustrated performer, my mother's into reading and poetry. I suppose the thing I owe them most is my confidence.
I think I'm becoming more relaxed in front of a camera. I suppose I'll always feel slightly more at home on stage. It's more of an actor's medium. You are your own editor, nobody else is choosing what is being seen of you.
Part of the fun of life is interacting with people and not knowing what the truth is inside. Letting them reveal that to you is what binds you to people.
The first thing, when I read the script, is that I need to care about what happens and feel compelled by the story and engaged by the characters. It needs to resonate with me, even if what the characters are going through is not something that I have experienced in my life. I have to feel like it has some sort of meaning to me.
We see death constantly on film.