Charles Dance

“Your senses are reeling all the time. Finally you find something to write and the very next day you go out and see something else which totally contradicts what you've written and every conclusion you've come to.”

“I've got a range as an actor! There was a time I played dramatic leading men.”

“I like approbation. Any actor who tells you they don't is lying.”

“My mother was a waitress in a Lyons Corner House, but she married up. She was keen on bettering herself. She taught me how to use the right knives and forks and behave properly.”

“I like to be busy. I once shared an agent with the late Sir John Gielgud, who, at 96, was apparently still ringing up, saying, 'Hello, Gielgud here, any work?' Good on him. We've got to keep working. If we retire, there'll be nobody to play the old wrinklies, and that would be a dreadful shame.”

“You have to attempt to be objective about yourself.”

“A handful of older, romantic leading men, like Sean Connery, Jack Nicholson, and Robert Redford are still landing parts.”

“We had five goats, two dogs, a cat and racks of commentaries on Shakespeare.”

“I like to keep up with London theatre, but it is a question of time.”

“We have to take risks in British television. It has to stop playing to the lowest common denominator and patronising people.”

“I would have liked to have worked with Ralph Richardson and Paul Scofield, but they're dead now.”

“I'm playing one of the principal roles, which gives you more clout and more confidence.”

“Actors can't retire. If actors retired, there would be nobody left to play old, wrinkly people. You have to keep going, darling - don't you?”

“I'm riddled with cynicism. Whenever anyone says 'trust me,' the hairs go up on the back of my neck.”

“You should encourage a child to show off. You can say to a child, 'Stop being rude,' 'Stop shouting,' 'Stop jumping around on the furniture.' But 'Stop showing off'? That's awful.”

“A while ago, I did a television adaptation of 'Bleak House,' and the character I played, as far as I was concerned, had no redeeming features whatsoever. I wasn't about to try to find any; I didn't need to.”

“There is a huge fan base; they're very knowledgeable and very loyal. I was astonished - before I started working on the series, I didn't know anything about 'Game of Thrones.' I hadn't heard of the books.”

“Most feature films are 35-40 shooting days.”

“You have to be selfish to be an actor.”

“I was a window dresser for Burton's once. What really put me off was the area manager coming round and saying, Charles, I think you're a natch at this.”