I've been well-known in Britain for a long time.

I have less than no interest in trying to replicate another brilliant actor's work, thank you very much.

I have no opinion on 48 frames a second at all. I'd be completely unsuitable to talk about that.

I was on record before I did 'The Hobbit,' saying I don't care at all about 3D. And I suppose I should now say I care a lot about 3D. I've always loved 3D, I think everything should be 3D, and I think it's just a shame 'The Godfather' wasn't in 3D.

My job as an actor is for you, so why should my private life be for you, too? That's not fair.

I wasn't like a Fifties dad.

It's more fun to keep stuff secret.

There's a difference between the parts that I play and who I am and who people think I am. There's quite a big discrepancy sometimes between those things.

I hadn't grown up with 'The Hobbit;' I hadn't grown up with 'Lord of The Rings,' anything like that.

Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay and Al Pacino made me want to act. I've always been interested in men with a vulnerable side.

The best of American television is thought-provoking, original, brilliant, exciting - from 'The Sopranos' on, whether it's 'The Wire' or 'Breaking Bad' or 'House of Cards,' they're fantastic pieces of art.

Television is where the great movies that used to exist have gone.

'The Hobbit's a big gig. It's a huge circus that you become a part of.

If you're alive for more than five minutes, you're going to be disappointed.

I don't want to be poor, of course. But I try not to make that the guiding force behind whether I choose to do something or not.

We all know the films that have affected us from the age of nine onwards, that mean so much to us.

I think the only directing I'd be any good at is theatre directing. It's the only thing I can see myself doing.