A charity donkey is where you sponsor a donkey in a sanctuary and give them three pounds a month to have some donkey nuts or something.

You fight for certain roles, and you realise they're being filled by television and film actors, because theatre is constantly fighting for survival and they need names and faces and ticket sales.

Monet was like a conductor. He painted with quite a straight arm and used bold strokes.

Personally, I'm not interested in getting more money for what I do; I'm just interested in more money being put into the production.

Once you don't smile on film, they say, 'Let's have that bloke who doesn't smile.'

I read everything that Tolkien wrote, and also read biographies of him. I was fascinated by his experiences in World War I, which includes the loss of life of some of his very, very close friends. I think he writes about that a lot in 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings.'

I did quite a lot of menial jobs. I was a waiter, an inventory clerk touring round properties listing cups and saucers, and a laserquest marshal.

I know what Twitter is; I don't use it. I don't use Facebook, so luckily, it does zero to my ego.

I think if I had come out of drama school and been an instant Hollywood superstar, I would be taking long, leisurely holidays.

I have an accountant, obviously, because I'm self employed, and I use an independent financial adviser. I trust my accountant because we have worked together for a long time now.

I try to keep at a non-obsessive level of fitness. It's not about looking great, it's about just feeling good. So I do a lot of yoga. Bikram just blows my mind. It's mental as well as physical; if I don't train, I get very depressed.

I can work hard and be disciplined like a soldier, but I could never reach their level of fitness.

The scariest stunt I've ever done was on 'Captain America.' We were doing some underwater sequence. I was in a submarine, and Chris Evans had to break the glass, and the water had to fill up quickly in the submarine.

I'm a late developer in everything. I have a fast mind and fast metabolism, and I'm an intense worker, but in terms of life development, I'm way behind.

People like continuity, and the good old cliffhanger every week is something they enjoy. I enjoy it - I don't want to dip into just one episode when I turn on the TV.

Everyone loves a good baddie.

Tolkien made dwarf sign language because, you know, it's too loud to talk in the mines.

It fills me with dismay sometimes when you look at the scripts that do come to you that are primarily focused on violence. There are so many other things to play around with.

I want to live in Middle-earth, actually.

I'm not a massive fan of 3D. I've seen some good 3D, and I've seen quite a lot of bad 3D. I think if a film is created for the shock effect of 3D, then it's a certain type of film that I'm not massively bothered about.

I'm looking forward to getting fat and old.

Often you find the character through the things they say. How they talk about other people, how they describe themselves - which is very rare.

Te Papa Museum is brilliant.

I wouldn't even dare to sing like Ed Sheeran.

I'd like a bit of a crack at some kind of anarchic comedy, but whether or not I'm skillful enough at it all, we'll see.

Give me a character that has an heroic quality, and I'll go there.

Being thought of as sexy makes one employable, but it's not going to last forever, so I try not to think about it. It's like something that exists outside of me.

Small, slow growth is the best I expect from an investment. I'm a real saver: frugal - like my parents.

In school, I was a beanpole with a nose I hadn't grown into.

The interesting roles have only come since I got into my 30s. But I didn't know that was going to happen.

As an actor, you're like, 'Yeah, I want that phone call from Peter Jackson saying, 'You're my first choice for Thorin Oakenshield.'

Tolkien was, I believe, writing about his experience in the First and Second World Wars, where he would have spent a lot of time without any female contact. He was part of the fellowship of men who went to war, and I think, really, that's what he's writing about.

I think most five-foot-two people would be quite offended if they were to be called dwarves.

Adults will not necessarily laugh at the same thing as their children.

You've got to have baddies that you can boo.

I've become one of those actors who find it difficult to say 'no' when things are offered.

I think that internal conflict works very well, because, after all, all the best drama is fuelled by conflict.

I love being grungy and dirty.

When I told my mom I was going to audition for 'The Hobbit,' she said, 'Well, you've always loved Tolkien.' And she was right.

To survive in a profession like this, you have to have absolute discipline and commitment, and I did not quite have it for musical theater.

I confess I've got a yearning to go to Los Angeles, but I can't work out if it is because a lot of British actors seem to go or because there's this perception that the bottom has fallen out of British drama, so therefore, it's the place to head for.

I speak some dwarvish.

If you're used to being a maverick, then people don't get surprised when you start acting strangely.

I was in a production of 'Macbeth.'

When you already have a following, people are more likely to employ you.

I was an estate agent for three years. That was pretty grim.

Someone told me a woman bought a dog so she could take it to the same park where I go running, but I'm hoping that's rubbish.

Do people really think that about my nose? I spent my whole life hating it, so it's amusing that people like it!

I think my fighting skills have certainly been improved by working with Peter Jackson.

You know, to an extent, Method acting feels occasionally lazy.