Jonathan Pryce

“I grew up in the 1950s at the beginning of rock n' roll, and would strum a tennis racket in front of the mirror.”

“I can tell stories to other actors about the level of aggression on stage in the '70s between actors - it was unbelievable.”

“I have just enough public appreciation to make me happy.”

“When I left school, I wanted to be an artist, specifically a painter.”

“When I was young, I used to be very frightened of getting older and of death. Now, I'm more resigned to the inevitability.”

“When you sing on stage, the songs are part of the narrative, but in 'Unconditional Love,' it was just singing for singing's sake. It was playing at being pop star. As a young boy growing up in North Wales, that was my fantasy.”

“It took a while to decide I wanted to do Hamlet. It wasn't that I was daunted - I'd been acting professionally since my mid-20s and had some pretty big Shakespearean roles under my belt by that stage, at 32: Petruchio in 'The Taming of the Shrew,' Edgar in 'King Lear,' Antony, Richard III. But when it came to Hamlet, I hesitated.”

“One time, I had to do Edgar in 'King Lear' and Owl in 'Winnie the Pooh' on the same day.”

“I'm not a star, I'm an actor - there's a difference!”

“As a child, play, drawing, and painting were important to me - they still are.”

“I know people whose entire lives are ruined by fame. If you make yourself exclusive, people want to break that down, but if you go about doing your shopping, no one bugs you.”

“Sometimes I just want to laugh.”

“I remember watching 'Fargo.' I thought that was cruel. 'GoodFellas,' lots of Scorsese stuff, I think is unnecessarily violent and almost a celebration of violence. I don't see 'Game of Thrones' as being a celebratory violence.”

“You can't punish the middle classes for going to drama school - you need to punish the education system and the associative governments for devaluing the arts.”

“What's great about being an actor is you meet people and form a relationship very quickly.”

“Hamlet' is a real ensemble piece: you have to realise that he's just one part of the story.”

“I try to see some good in everyone.”

“I cry very easily.”

“'Macbeth' sags in act four - the England scene with Malcolm and Macduff just doesn't work theatrically. But with 'Hamlet,' although the play is so long, Shakespeare manages to sustain the arc.”

“Oddly enough, I'm not religious but I'm also very fond of St Peter's in Rome. When I'm there, I always know there's a good meal not far away.”