Actors From England

"The loneliness of Hester and Freddie certainly struck a chord with me. I’ve been the independent one in a relationship, but I’ve also been the one who wanted just a circle of two."

"It wasn't actually in the Olympic Games, but I spent 12 years on the national squad. And it was a great experience, you know, to travel the world and compete at a certain level. It teaches you discipline, focus, and certainly keeps you out of trouble."

"In part coming of age listening to Throbbing Gristle, Monte Cazazza and so on... basically industrial music and No Wave defined my tastes. So, I really entered Burroughs via post-punk… and to me his ideas of sound, cut-ups, infrasound, and so on, all informed the mise-en-scène of first wave industrial music. The fact that he really found an audience in post-punk and punk showed some aesthetic lineage. In Against Control – when I look at the records released around Burroughs – I mention the releases by Giorno Poetry Systems, and I think you can really see some shared ideas about the nature of communication amongst the artists there. It’s telling to me that so many of the musicians and bands that are on those records emerged from punk and industrial music."

"The critic has a purpose, but I don’t see my writing as trying to judge a work, trying to communicate its good or bad points to a reader. To me, my hope is that this dossier may open-up new areas of cinema for readers, and point at new avenues for investigation, which is all I would hope for. If it merely defined any emergent orthodoxy-of-extreme-cinema I would feel it had failed."

"For many people heterosexual anal intercourse is still the most transgressive sexual act imaginable. Anal sex renounces any pretence of procreation, it is commonly believed to be unpleasurable for women, it has socio-cultural connotations of male homosexuality, and it is commonly thought of as dirty and faecal. It was illegal in Britain until 1994 and remains forbidden in parts of the western world. Not a sexual act commonly considered to be romantic nor worthy of a celebratory pop song, if discussed at all, anal sex is seen predominately as a Sadean fixation and hardcore porn staple. Certainly it is never viewed as an act of love. Je t’aime moi non plus is a film that is defined by distorted and fragmented bodies, scatological desires and erotic excesses. Even to contemporary audiences, this is a film that stinks of “perversion”, that reeks of sweat, cum, urine, shit and soiled panties, but this not a “perversion” troubled by dull clichés of morality or simplistic notions of sexual normality (a normality which clearly does not and never has existed), rather this is a “perversion” that moves outwards, extending beyond culturally ascribed limits, diving into a veritable sewer of infinite possibilities. “Perversion” may have traditionally been prescribed by those with power as a discursive naming which seeks to label the “perverse” as “other” but “perversion” always already exists as a commonplace, although in a repressed form. My response to the cultural implementation of the perverse is simultaneously celebratory and rigorous, my desire to explore and articulate, to both engage and ejaculate, to become the will to perversion."

"As far as a compassionate lifestyle and [it being] healthy for me, for the planet and all the life on it, vegan is really the best way to go. It helps me a lot. I really believe that I'm doing something good for me and for everyone else every time I eat, you know."

"Being a vegan, caring about animals … all this compassion in my lifestyle is the reward in and of itself."

"Brooklyn saw me, empty at the news There's no water inside this swimming pool Almost over, had enough from you And I've been praying, I never did before Understand I'm talking to the walls I've been praying ever since New York"

"She's driving me crazy, but I'm into it, but I'm into it I'm kinda into it It's getting crazy, I think I'm losing it, I think I'm losing it Oh, I think she said "I'm having your baby, it's none of your business" "I'm having your baby, it's none of your business" "I'm having your baby, it's none of your business" "I'm having your baby, it's none of your, it's none of your""

"We're not who we used to be We're not who we used to be We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat"

"I didn’t grow up in a man’s man world. I grew up with my mum and my sister. But I definitely think in the last two years, I’ve become a lot more content with who I am. I think there’s so much masculinity in being vulnerable and allowing yourself to be feminine, and I’m very comfortable with that. Growing up you don’t even know what those things mean. You have this idea of what being masculine is and as you grow up and experience more of the world, you become more comfortable with who you are. Today it’s easier to embrace masculinity in so many different things. I definitely find – through music, writing, talking with friends and being open – that some of the times when I feel most confident is when I’m allowing myself to be vulnerable. It’s something that I definitely try and do."

"We have a choice, every single day that we wake up, of what we can put into the world, and I ask you to please choose love every single day."

"A real girl isn't perfect and a perfect girl isn't real."

"In writing songs about stuff like that, I like tipping a hat to the time together. You're celebrating the fact it was powerful and made you feel something, rather than 'this didn't work out, and that's bad.' And if you run into that person, maybe it's awkward, maybe you have to get drunk ... but you shared something. Meeting someone new, sharing those experiences, it's the best shit ever. So thank you."

"That doesn't feel like politics to me. Stuff like equality feels much more fundamental. I feel like everyone is equal."

"Some of them are funny. Some of them are ridiculous. Some of them are annoying. I don't want to be one of those people that complains about the rumours. I never like it when a celebrity goes on Twitter and says, "This isn't true!" It is what it is, I tend not to do that."

"Does anybody like dolphins? Don’t go to SeaWorld."

"People in general, not just girls, but people who are younger are obviously extremely impressionable. And I do think it’s important. There's obviously a lot of different body images that are thrown around in society in general. Some things look like they’re more acceptable and some things are made to feel like they’re unacceptable. So, I think it’s very important that it empowers people in general. I think that anytime you can make someone who potentially might not feel as great about themselves as they should, feel better about themselves, I think that’s always a positive thing."

"Despite the company outside, I believe in equal rights for everyone. I think God loves all. Thanks for coming to the show though."

"Who's to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That's not up to you to say. Music is something that's always changing. There's no goal posts. Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they're not serious? How can you say young girls don't get it? They're our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going. Teenage-girl fans – they don't lie. If they like you, they're there. They don't act 'too cool.' They like you, and they tell you. Which is sick."

"We never learn, we been here before Why are we always stuck and running from The bullets? The bullets?"

"No. We don't really do that. We feel that objectifies women and that's not really what we're about."

"I’ve always said, if I get tired of it, I won’t do it. And I still enjoy it, and what’s there to get tired of? I always think that if people don’t recognize me, that’s when the problem starts. Right? That’s my way of looking at it. It’s great fun. I enjoy it. As I say, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it."

"I enjoy kids, always have. It’s wonderful to see their reactions, to see their faces light up when you look at the pictures because most kids have been brought up on Star Wars from their parents. It’s just a crazy thing, but it’s wonderful to see the kids and they have fun. It’s one of those things, they either believe it and go, “wow, you really played Chewbacca?” And I say, “Yes.” Having big hands is an ice-breaker. Because you put one hand up against their little hand and see the expression on their face. Amazing."

"Any kind of recognition for the work that you've done is a terrific thing. As a film actor, you don't often get that opportunity to meet with your audience and take your applause on stage. It's quite nice to meet people and hear them say, "I really enjoyed your work in this." I really enjoyed the Leprechaun films, and people who enjoy Leprechaun are quite obsessed."

"Everybody uses mime and gesture in real life, though we don’t realize it. It’s very useful as a performance technique, though it can be boring to watch on its own. As for radio, I had a wonderful teacher. I was hugely lucky. I didn’t want to play a robot, but the situation was an object lesson in fate taking over."

"I'm always flattered when the Leprechauns are listed in these "Top Tens" of horror characters among Freddy Kruger and Jason, which were the characters I grew up "admiring," if that's the right word."

"I’m actually quite tired because Threepio is an exhausting character — he’s always very tense, he’s always slightly on the edge of panic. That’s why he’s funny, because he’s always in the wrong place. I record each piece three times in a row, so the director can choose without interrupting too much."

"I mean it's wonderful to see that something you have done in your career has attracted so much attention. It was basically giving it what I call a lifetime achievement, it's something people will never forget."

"I've looked right and left and right again and the only party I can safely vote for is UKIP."

"Whitehall, on being "posh", or coming from an affluent background"

"I was embarrassed by it and racked by middle-class guilt. But when you're on stage, if you're trying to be something you're not, it becomes so much harder. It's better to be honest and take every vulnerability and flaw you have, and mock them and deal with them."

"He's always been the person who's made me laugh most. He uses humour in a very disarming way. I've seen how people enjoy his company and have always envied that, and have wanted to aspire to that."

"It's much more a matter of playing the characters as they were written by the authors, because of the liberties that have been taken with pretty much all of them. They've all been distorted in one way or another, because the authors have hardly stuck to the facts."

"I think that if you get too close to the character, if you do too much historical research, you may find yourself defending your view of a character against the author's view, and I think that's terribly dangerous."

"My career has evolved at its own peculiar pace, American careers are supposed to have a much more singular direction than I've been able to... stomach. Really. In most careers you find something you do well and you tie an increasingly larger bow on the package. My interests and obsessions have always been so wide-ranging that I keep popping my head out of different boxes as much as possible.That's far more interesting for me."

"I don’t know the why of anything, even when I pretend most diligently I do. The truth is the last time I had any idea why or what I was supposed to do I was lying in a shell hole, looking up at the sky. My mind was filled with a Bach keyboard sonata , which was one of the last I’d learned, I forget which one now. I absolutely knew I was about to die and I was completely happy and at peace, in a way I never was before or since, not even with you, in our best moments. It was so easy, you see, a kind of absolute joy and peace, because I knew it was all done and I was all square with life. Nothing left to do but let things take their course. And when I didn’t die, I didn’t know what to do. So I thought, I’ll take my revolver, go out and blow a hole through my head. Only I knew it wouldn’t work. I knew, I just knew you couldn’t do it that way. You couldn’t make it happen, not if you wanted to find peace. So, I thought, then, a sniper can do it for me. But no matter how I tried to let them no sniper ever found me. And all the other times I went out and lay in shell holes in No Man’s Land it wasn’t the same, and I knew I wouldn’t die this time, and of course I never did. I had this mad feeling I’d become some sort of Wandering Jew. And everything for so long afterwards was about dragging this living corpse of myself around, giving it things to do, because here it was, alive. And nothing made any sense and I didn’t even hope it would. I followed paths that were there to be followed, I did what others said to do."

"That is the most wonderful training an actor can have. If you can speak Shakespeare, you can speak anything. And it gives you complete poise and grace of movement."

"He had a heart of gold, a great sense of humor and will be missed by the many people who loved him."

"I was very sad to hear of Roger’s passing. We had an unusually long relationship, by Hollywood standards, that was filled with jokes and laughter. I will miss him."

"He embraced the role with an easy charm and grace that let us all in on the game. He saved the world seven times and then went on to become an even greater man working to ‘save the children’ with UNICEF. He never forgot the audience and we shall never forget him. I am proud to have followed in your footsteps Sir Roger."

"I am devastated to learn of Roger Moore’s passing. The first leading role I ever had as a Bond girl was such a new and frightening world and Roger held my hand and guided me through every process. He taught me about work ethic and humility. He was so funny, kind and thoughtful to everyone around him and in that Roger taught me what a movie star really was and should be. Through his lifelong work with UNICEF he showed me the true meaning of being a humanitarian and giving back. He was my Bond."

"I think Roger is the best Bond, of course – not just because of being my Bond, but because if you read the early Ian Fleming books describing him, that’s how he was, he was a bachelor, unattached, he was luxurious, sophisticated, and he was not available for females so no long term relationships there. I think Roger really portrayed that."

""Sport" hunting is a sickness, a perversion and a danger and should be recognised as such. People who get their "amusement" from hunting and killing defenceless animals can only be suffering from a mental disorder."

"I’ve been very fortunate and very lucky in life and I’d urge anyone to follow their hearts and find their true vocation. Life is so much more pleasant when you love going to work."

"I played it slightly tongue-in-cheek because I never quite believed that James Bond was a spy because everybody knew him, they all knew what he drank. He’d walk into a bar and it would always be, "Ah, Commander Bond, martini, shaken not stirred." Spies are faceless people."

"Boris Karloff's face has always fascinated me, and I made drawings of his head, added sharp, bony ridges where I imagined the skull might be joined. His physique was weaker than I could wish, but that queer, penetrating personality of his I felt was more important than his shape, which could easily be altered."

"My father was such a private and modest man. He did not really bring his career home or talk about other actors, and he lived a very conservative, circumspect life. He did not live the life of a movie star. He was a typical English gentleman. I really was not aware. I mean I knew what he did, but I was not aware of the magnitude of his stardom."

"I adored making ' with dear Boris Karloff. He refused to do his own stunts, the mark of a true Hollywood star."

"He was a lovely man. We used to have great fun reciting poetry to each other."