Rhys Ifans

“I never think career.”

“On a conventional film, you do one take, and if it's good, they say, 'Let's do another one for insurance.'”

“I'm a factory-floor actor: I learn the lines, I get there on time.”

“Well, I need to be frightened on a regular basis.”

“I don't sit around with other actors and talk about the pain and the magic of acting.”

“Being on tour is a giggle.”

“You look at any culture, and prohibition has invariably been an unmitigated failure. It is just idiotic to criminalise any substance, I think.”

“I am not gadgety at all. It's not that I'm appalled by technology, but I've taken my time acquiring any of it.”

“Film can become stagnant as a medium.”

“The strange thing is, if I was speaking to drama students about the thing that you should do if you're lucky enough to know or to meet the character that you're playing, I'd say, 'It's obvious: you quiz them diligently about their experience.'”

“The older I get, I'm really reminded how important the arts are to our wellbeing as a society.”

“I'm a real magpie when it comes to music; it's all random, and there's no pattern to what I like.”

“Spider-Man is a school boy that's looking for his parents.”

“I work hard and I party hard. When I go to work, I know what I am doing and I do it to the best of my abilities. When I party, I take exactly the same rule book with me.”

“Every species has its pub.”

“I'm becoming more indulgent and less giving as an actor as I get older. I'm immersing myself more in roles emotionally.”

“If it is not scary, it is not worth doing.”

“I freely admit that I am a bit of a misfit.”

“I'll move back to Wales if and when I have children. I want them to speak the language I speak, but I love living in London. It's my favourite city in the whole world. I love it because it's not England, it's London.”

“I've worked with Hollywood stars, but the reason most of the Hollywood stars I've worked with are Hollywood stars is that they're excellent actors, so I've been very lucky.”