Matthew Macfadyen

“I love books.”

“My vanity is I'm terribly romantic! But being married is lovely.”

“I'd auditioned for the National Youth Theatre and I didn't get a place and it was terrifying.”

“It must be odd, being recognizable. I would hate to lose that anonymity.”

“I wouldn't want to leave it so long before doing a play again, I get very stolid and sluggish if I do too much telly.”

“I don't feel like a romantic lead; I guess I feel more like a character actor.”

“I just loved the whole idea of being an actor.”

“I would hate not to do a play every couple of years. I think it's not me.”

“As much as I long for a sort of security and consistency sometimes, I do enjoy sort of being busted around. I really don't know what's happening sometimes next week, let alone this year.”

“I think I do have a good eye. It's quite liberating, being in a position to read a script and say, 'No.' It's really the only power you have, as an actor.”

“I did four or five years in telly, and by the end of it was drained. I was a bit sick of myself. I didn't feel like an actor anymore. That sounds silly, but when you're doing a play you're using different muscles, and it blew all the cobwebs away.”

“Some British actors are snobby about telly, and I don't understand that.”

“The lovely thing about being an actor is being anonymous, it's never having to explain yourself. And that's what I find interesting about actors or painters I admire. I don't want to know about their lives.”

“The actor in me would always like to be more dashing, or slimmer, or have nicer hair.”