Ben Kingsley

“But filming is good for you, because the crew isn't allowed to laugh. You can't get addicted to getting the laugh.”

“There's so much crap talked about acting.”

“I think that you can fall into bad habits with comedy... It's a tightrope to stay true to the character, true to the irony, and allow the irony to happen.”

“In cinema, the leading player is the director.”

“I was fortunate as a young actor, to go straight to the RSC, where I learned that being an actor can bring with it wonderful responsibilities.”

“I try and reduce myself to an almost blank slate and hope to God that I am creative.”

“I do remember, as a child, that I always imagined, when I was maybe 6 or 7, my fantasy was that everywhere I went I was being followed by an invisible film crew.”

“Fifteen years before I became a screen actor, I was in the theatre. A lot of my work was comedy, which I loved doing. It's harder.”

“Hopefully, as I get older in the business, I make my choices more accurately, and I perhaps know from either the script or the first meeting that it isn't going to work.”

“I honestly have no strategy whatsoever. I'm waiting for that script to pop through the letterbox and completely surprise me.”

“There have not been any troughs as regards my work. There's never been a trough of my assurance.”

“When Attenborough asked me to do Gandhi it was almost like stepping off one boat and stepping on to another, even though both boats are going at 60 miles per hour.”

“It is better for me to serve a charity as an actor or a voice, rather than at a luncheon being just a celebrity.”