I don't like to sound immodest, but I believe in what I can do. Sometimes it's been frustrating because I haven't gotten to bat; if you're on the bench, and an unimaginative person doesn't see you as right for a certain role, you don't get the chance to hit the home run.

I always tried to play the bad guys as guys who didn't know they were bad guys. There are villains we run into all the time, but they don't think they are doing anything wrong. If they do, they think they are cunning and smart. When people break laws and ethical rules, they justify it in their own terms.

A good director makes a playground and allows you to play.

Life is a roller coaster. There are ups; there are downs. There are hills; there are valleys, peaks, and so on.

Great teachers are the ones who inspire you.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

It's more fun to keep stuff secret.

I wasn't like a Fifties dad.

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

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.

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

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

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

Are there many Tims in America? I don't know if I can think of many American Tims.

I think when see you a character on the screen who is actually being touched by the world, and the stuff is actually landing on him, it makes you empathize.