Michael Gambon

“I'm very flower-like. I love classical music. I go to ballet and I cry. There's nothing so beautiful.”

“I just play him as myself, I don't ease myself into any role really. I stick a beard on and play me.”

“When I was doing 'Tales from Hollywood' at the National, I was invited to dinner by the choreographer, Kenneth MacMillan. He told me I had the heart of a dancer and asked me if I'd like to come on at the end of 'Romeo and Juliet' as a friar. I said I'd love to, but sadly, MacMillan died shortly after.”

“All actors say they're concerned about the state of the theatre, but what they're really concerned about is that there'll be less work around.”

“I've always tried to be an actor who... I just plod on and try to keep my mouth shut, mind my own business. I find the whole thing about people's lives... I can't understand it. I'm always astonished that people want to know anything about me.”

“I've played quite a lot of crooks and killers, and that's quite interesting. Then Dumbledore is the complete opposite, isn't he? He's a nice old man.”

“I have been in five Harry Potter films and never read a 'Harry Potter' book. If you are an actor, all you have is the script you are given. If you read the book, you might get disappointed about what's been left out.”

“Paul Schofield said something like, 'If I'm not acting in a play, I don't really exist.' Those weren't the exact words, but he meant it's only when I'm acting in a play that I've got something to say about the world. And then why should I talk, when people can come to see it?”

“I promise myself that I would go and do a play every year.”

“Oh yeah, I'd love to be a comedian. I've done a lot, but always in the confines of plays.”

“Richard was in heavy, heavy costume, he could hardly sit, you know, and I turned up and they put me in two layers of silk, so I played him much lighter - you know, floating around in a pair of slippers, a bit of a hippy.”

“There are more important ways of earning a living, aren't there? Like being a neurosurgeon. But some plays are very important, aren't they?”

“Television has dried up for my generation, so it's plays and films.”

“I'd love to be a comedian. I've done a lot, but always in the confines of plays.”

“I live in fear of being a contented passenger. I'd rather get parts I can't play.”

“I am a theatre actor, but the last ten years I've taken parts in movies because it keeps me in money.”

“I see film roles as lovely presents that come along now and again. I feel really lucky and say thank you very much. And if they fly me to L.A., I think, 'God, I must really be doing well.' I've worked with De Niro and Brando and Pacino, and that's made me feel very lucky. But the films have never meant a lot to me.”

“I find it difficult to remember lines. When I'm doing a long speech for television, I sometimes have an earpiece with someone feeding me the text. But I can get by in the theatre if I study hard for a couple of months.”

“You get used to being lazy doing films, but classical theatre's going to finish me off.”

“I just hate the idea of being well known. I know that is almost impossible if you're an actor who has done okay, but I've always fought against it.”