Rupert Penry-Jones

“To be able to play Jack Kerouac or Sal Paradise, it's mad to me.”

“I know one thing - if I didn't have TV and theatre and radio, the world would be a much more boring place.”

“I hate feeling full, so Christmas is about the only time I really stuff myself.”

“I've never boxed before in my life. I've had one day's training at a boxing gym, and it's an incredibly difficult sport.”

“I'm worried about losing my hair. I think if I lost my hair, I'd lose a lot of parts. And I don't want to get fat. I'm always worried about that.”

“I have two beautiful children, a wife who loves me very much and who I love - and my career is going well, too.”

“My parents didn't want me to be an actor. They didn't think I could take the rejection, and I have to say they were probably right.”

“Our pool is outdoors, but it's heated, and I've got one of those machines that produces waves you have to swim against; like a jogging treadmill, really, only it's in water. Basically, it means you can have a small pool, swim for miles, and get nowhere.”

“Friday is my night for letting my hair down, and once a month a group of my old male friends will come down and stay at our house in Hampshire.”

“What I really enjoy is when someone who I used to have a crush on, a female from my industry, comes up to me at a party and says, 'Oh, I've been dying to meet you. I've had such a crush on you.'”

“Working hard as an actor means you're doing what you want to do.”

“I've always taken a lot of exercise - I get a bit depressed if I don't. In terms of food, I'm a bit of a grazer.”

“I get very few nasty letters. A few from people who disapprove of the fact that I'm getting naked on television yet again. I don't know why - I suppose they don't like the idea that I'm doing that while I'm married with children.”

“It's always nice to have people say you're good-looking. But I do get told I'm not right for parts because I'm too good-looking.”

“I did a bit of modeling before I took up acting, and I was up for this big campaign - I can't remember which designer - and all these execs were looking at my portfolio. Then one said: 'We'd like to use you, but can you come back next year when you've lost this.' And he tapped the underside of his chin.”

“I always felt like acting was something I could just do if I wanted, which was wrong.”

“The ability to suspend reality and go into a make-believe world can be really, really difficult if there's something really big going on.”

“Being rejected is not nice, and it never gets any easier no matter where you are in your career.”

“You just worry that your time is up. It's not that people suddenly go, 'Oh, actually they're not very good any more,' but sometimes, well, your time is up. There are a lot of actors out there who just disappear.”

“I pay our nanny more than I'm earning.”