A biography for James Nesbitthasn’t been written yet.
“I started a French degree at university, but packed it in when I realised I really wanted to be an actor.”
“Like the character I played in 'Jekyll', we all have different masks we put on for different occasions. As much as we all want to lead decent lives, we're also attracted by the idea that something dark may lurk within us.”
“I think teaching should be a vocation, and they should be paid more for it.”
“Before I read the 'Bloody Sunday' script, I have to admit I hadn't thought about it that much. There was probably even part of me which assumed there was no smoke without fire. That the Catholics who were shot must have done something to provoke such a response from the army. I was extremely ignorant of the whole situation.”
“The thing to remember is that the work comes first, and not to get distracted by anything else. If you keep focused on the work, everything else will fall into place. That's my mantra now.”
“In my life, I have made the occasional catastrophic choice, and it's just a case of moving on and learning from it.”
“I've heard some duff Irish accents. The worst must be Mickey Rourke.”
“I want to beat up Michael Fassbender in a movie. I was with him at the beginning of his career when he did an episode of 'Murphy's Law.' He's a proper superstar and enormously talented, but I want to do a scene where I properly duff him up.”
“I'm not an actor who is often asked to be in period things.”
“When I did the film 'Hear My Voice' a few years ago, I disappeared fully up my own backside for a while. Because I thought my career was taking off, I became a bit of an egomaniac and a pain in the neck. I thought I was God's gift to mankind and the greatest Irishman since George Best.”
“When I turned 40, subconsciously, life was a blank sheet. Before, it was disjointed, and I was very displaced and quite mad, but it was a brilliant time. Everyone thinks I must have been unhappy.”
“I don't know a single person who doesn't regret the things that they did to hurt their parents, or the things they didn't say to them.”
“As fabulous as technology is, it can also make us very anxious.”
“It's hard to make a film in Britain. It's hard to raise money. The best stuff that is shot on film in Britain is usually shot on film for television.”
“I spend my money on holidays and eating out, and it allows me to be generous.”
“Several years ago, I began losing my hair, and like a lot of men, it was a major concern to me, in fact it was practically an obsession. But, also I'm an actor, so I'm in the public eye a lot and I really felt that my hair loss could affect my career prospects.”
“When people say, 'You're perceived as a sex symbol,' I love the idea of that because it's so absurd.”