I think all actors get scared because we're frightened to disappoint.

People who were gay were pitied and ridiculed by my parents - they had no modern sense of people being allowed to be who they were.

Unfortunately, I don't know many black people.

I don't care what I look like. I must be comfortable. Some of my friends have plastic surgery and Botox, but I'm not interested in it.

My father was a doctor, so I thought I was going to be a doctor, too, but I couldn't do maths; I couldn't do science. I was hopeless at chemistry.

The curious thing is that I embraced homosexuality with as much joy and delight as I've embraced everything else in my life.

I don't have a very positive attitude towards rappers.

There's a strong melancholic streak in me.

I think I should be described as 'bi' - not bisexual, because I'm not - I'm gay - but 'binational' because I retain British nationality, and I add to it being Australian, which is like having your cake and eating it.

If I could give my younger self one piece of advice, I would say, 'Lose weight.'

My feeling is that the English are naturally anti-Semitic.

Glenda Jackson called me an amateur in 1976 when we were in a play, 'The White Devil.' I've never forgiven her.

I want a comfortable old age and to be looked after - I have arthritis - and money is a factor.

It's very hard to talk about Palestine to Jewish people - they see me as a betrayer.

I think Britain is a bit class-ridden. People tend to be judged by how rounded their vowels are.

I don't think people realise how important it is to have your blood pressure checked. Stroke is so sudden, so catastrophic.

Confidence was the backbone of my upbringing. I was an only child, so I was spoilt, loved, and given an enormous amount of confidence by my parents.

I'm not sure I approve of theatre as a university course. I think theatre's something you do. I mean, literature is a subject; theatre is practical.

People tend to think I'm funny and fluffy, but I can switch on a sixpence from extreme happiness to utter despair. I'm aware that doesn't make it easy for people sometimes.

I used to get into bed with my mother every morning, almost until she died, and talk about everything. She was my closest confidante always. I had no secrets from her.

The main fear about growing old as an actor is not losing the looks. I never had any to speak of, and what I had I've still got, but losing the memory is another matter.

I love political cartoons from the 19th century, and whenever I complete a piece of acting work that I'm particularly proud of, be it a film or play, I treat myself to a picture by caricaturist James Gillray.

I wouldn't consider retiring to India: there are too many people, and it's difficult walking along the pavements. I'd love to spend two or three months a year there.

I enjoy finding the right word and giving each its full measure, its full space in a sentence.