Mads Mikkelsen

“I'm terrified about psychic people who have their little shops. I always walk across the street and go somewhere else. Imagine if one of them came out with their face all pale and said, 'Hurry up and enjoy yourself.' No one wants to know that.”

“I watched westerns when I was a kid, like everybody else, but I wasn't a total nerd or geek about it. I kind of fell in love with westerns heavily when I started watching Sergio Leone's westerns.”

“I don't wear cologne. I do occasionally, but anytime I take a shower, I just put on deodorant. That's basically what I smell like.”

“I became a dancer late and an actor late.”

“Once in a while, when I'm out on the lawn, I'll jump around and do a couple of things. Here's a secret: The older you get, the more difficult it gets. The smallest little injury stays with you for so long. But that's how it goes, and it doesn't stop me. I'm always ready to do something that hurts a little!”

“The script is always the main preparation for me. Sometimes you have a period piece where you have to research around it, but if the writers have done their homework well enough, the information is all in the script.”

“I know a little about Greek mythology. It's not that far away from the Nordic mythology.”

“I don't necessarily prefer playing villains. I know a lot of people say they are more fun, but if the scriptwriter has done their work well, you can find something realistic in a villain and find the mistakes in a hero - it's all down to the writing.”

“I felt perhaps 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' was a little premature. It was a huge hit around the world - it was still running in the theatres - and the Americans at that time were already shooting the remake, and I was like, 'Whoa! Give it a break of five or six years and get a little inspired, and then do it.'”

“I've always been extremely physical. I was a gymnast for 15 years, and then I was a dancer for nine, so I was kind of looking for these parts. But we have a tendency in Denmark not to do many action films.”

“I make an awesome soup with coconut milk and shrimps; it takes me five hours to prepare the whole thing. It does become very spicy, but you can definitely taste all the ingredients.”

“Machiavelli had some cold tricks for people who wanted to be demagogues and wanted to take over the world.”

“I haven't watched that much TV, to be honest. To be honest, I don't watch that many films anymore - partly because I don't have time; secondly, because I watch a lot of sports, and I love watching sports.”

“I vividly remember Charles Bronson's face in 'Chino.' The western genre is screaming for a face like that.”

“England and Denmark have a sense of irony and a darker sense of humour that you don't necessarily find in Germany and Sweden.”

“I have an enormous metabolism, so I'm lucky.”

“I always wanted to play some kind of instrument - piano, saxophone, whatever. I took it up for a while, then forgot about it because I didn't have the time.”

“I was a gymnast for many years before I was a dancer, so it comes in pretty handy when we do stunts.”

“Being physical and doing my own stunts - it is fun to do these kind of films once in a while, especially before you get too old.”

“If you spend a week at a casino you will very easily see that people have a certain way of behaving in a casino.”