Ben Barnes

“That's the thing, when you play younger characters they're always less casual. You're hungrier or more naive. Those things wane in time.”

“My dad is a doctor, a professor of psychiatry, and my mum is a psychotherapist.”

“When I finished school, everyone wanted to go to a good university and become a lawyer or a doctor. My A-levels were sort of chosen for me.”

“I think if actors don't think of themselves as funny in real life they think they can't do comedy.”

“Jeff Bridges is one of my favorite actors in the history of ever.”

“I want to play characters that are interesting to watch.”

“I was heavily into sport from 10 to 15, I was in all the teams, and it was everything to me. But I was very young for my school year and when puberty kicked in for my classmates I got left behind.”

“When I was younger I didn't really know what genre of music I'd want to do because I'd always done so many different types, so many impressions.”

“I have done lots of music projects in my life and some of them I am more proud of than others.”

“I've actually, very rarely have I worked in my own voice. I've played, I think, Russian, American, Northern from the North of England. All sorts of different accents I've worked in.”

“Never agree to say or do anything that isn't you.”

“I'm probably a little too uninhibited.”

“I often talk with other actors about that time when you've just finished a job, because I think you do take on the characteristics of some of the characters you play. Sometimes it can be a great thing and sometimes it's a bit haunting because you're not quite sure how to leave it on set. My dad talks about it as being 'de-personalised.'”

“Sometimes success comes in ways you don't expect.”

“I'd rather be shot than be seen falling out of some trendy club.”

“Half my fan mail comes from Japan.”

“We live in a youth-obsessed, aesthetically obsessed culture. That is no more evident than in the film industry.”

“I had two family members involved in World War I: two great-uncles. One of them is on a memorial in France. And the other was a trench runner who survived the war. The average life span of a trench runner was 36 hours, but he survived the whole war.”

“I am comfortable playing the fool, I think.”

“I swim a lot. I swim most days.”