People always want to knock you when you’re up.
Live a life less ordinary.
The armoury of having any academic education does not necessarily set you up for being a good or better actor.
I’m really not Sherlock Holmes. I look a little bit like him and sound like him.
I never was obsessive about anything I watched when I was a kid, except maybe ‘The A-Team’ and ‘Airwolf’ And I loved ‘Knight Rider’ and then later ‘Baywatch.’
I actually do mind having a photo taken because it’s one o’clock in the morning and I’m off my face.
I remember very clearly someone saying, ‘Don’t shake hands with the cactus,’ and I thought, ‘Well, why not? What could possibly go wrong?’ Shaking hands is a friendly gesture.
I’m not very geeky. I’m quite homespun. I would say I’m more modern rustic than gadget-orientated. I like woollen things and log fires and whiskey.
I am a PR disaster because I talk too much.
I was brought up in a world of privilege.
It’s always important to have the blessing.
There’s no shame in stealing – any actor who says he doesn’t is lying. You steal from everything.
As an actor, you are aware of how a role can seep into your real life.
I was thrilled with how the first series of ‘Sherlock’ was received. It was such great fun to film, which makes it so rewarding when something you enjoy is so well received.
There’s still nearly the same amount of slavery, if not more, in the world today, as there was at the height of the slave trade.
One of the best things about being an actor is that it’s a meritocracy.
I’m not loyal to one genre. I want to mix it up.
It does get strange when you realize people will hang around for hours to get a glimpse of you doing scenes outside.
I always get self-conscious about what I look like in a film, but less so if I’m a character very far removed from who I am. Then I just worry about the performance, and that’s equally an odd experience.
It is a wonderful thing to get married young and become a father.