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Quotes
 Acting
allows me to explore new worlds, to discover characters by delving into
their lives, and ultimately to become someone else entirely.
For
me, acting is doing.
I
don't see myself as the Hunk of the Month.
I
had to have some balls to be Irish Catholic in South London. Most of
that time I spent fighting.
My
mother was the prettiest woman in the town. He was a bit older than her.
They made me. And he split.
Some
people have a tendency to get knocked down in this business and sulk and
whine, and they just create a rod for their back, really. You have to
have broad shoulders and get through it.
There's
too many people in seats of power who just haven't got a clue what
they're doing. They're bean counters, and it just pisses me off because
consequently our kids go to see crap movies.
When
people don't believe in you, you have to believe in yourself.
Our
marriage gives me a stability that makes me feel that I can tackle the
world. - On his marriage to Cassandra
Harris
I
don't see myself as the 'Hunk of the Month. - On
his good looks.
Cassie
has made me the man I am, the actor I am, the father I am. She's forever
embedded in every fiber of my being. - On his marriage to
Cassandra Harris
It's
a role better suited to someone who is in his 40s, old enough to have
the confidence and the sophistication and strength to be able to stand
there and just let the moment sit. Bond is a man with the greatest of
confidence. And playing that takes practice. In 1986, I think I was 33
or something like that, and I still looked like a baby. Finally, I'm
growing into this face of mine. That takes time. - On why he thinks he
would have regretted winning the James Bond role in 1986.
There's
too many people in seats of power who just haven't got a clue what
they're doing. They're bean counters, and it just pisses me off because
consequently our kids go to see this crap movie... there's nothing with
meaningfulness.
I
had to make a living. I had the mortgage to pay; I had the school fees
to pay. I had bread and butter to put on the table. You know your worth
as an actor, but you have to get a job.
I
think that all the films I've ever made are personal, even James Bond,
because it's so much of myself, so much of who I am as a man and as an
actor. You have to invest yourself in every character that you portray.
And
certainly in those dark days, in the 50s in Ireland, if you were a
single parent living in that society, you were somewhat shamed and
stigmatised. I can certainly relate it to my parents, especially my
mother. The old man took to the hills and my mother never saw him again,
and suddenly you are spoken about in the Sunday service in church, never
directly but they would bring up the issue of being a single parent and
of marriage falling apart.
There's
that lovely line from that wonderful epic picture that I made called
Grey Owl where they say to Archie Belaney, A man becomes what he dreams.
You have dreamed well. Part of the dreams go back to my childhood and
when I left Ireland in 1964, I discovered the cinema. One of the first
films I saw was Goldfinger (1964) - I didn't want to be James Bond but
the seed of cinema and pictures was sown there in Putney High Street.
And then I discovered Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen and the movies.
There
was only one Bond for me, and it was Sean Connery. That made the role
daunting.
I
know most actors say otherwise, but I like sex scenes. Bond was supposed
to be this great lover, but I always found the love scenes in those
movies a little dull. It's lovely to work out the fantasy of it all in
celluloid and then go home to my wife.
To
my eye, women get sexier around 35. They know a thing or two, and
knowledge is always alluring.
Bond
is an enigma. He's smooth and bigger than life, but he's vague as a
personality. It's a little like doing a period piece. Look, I'm
thankful, the role made me an international star. I've been in the
backwaters of Papua New Guinea and heard, 'Hey, Bond.'
Being
an actor in Hollywood involves lots of things beyond acting. Charm
really helps. And it's a good idea to incorporate a little Bond into all
your dealings.
They're
too scared. They feel they have to top themselves in a genre which is
just spectacle and a huge bang for your buck. But I think you can have
your cake and eat it. You can have real character work, a character
storyline and a thriller aspect and all kinds of quips, asides, the
explosions and the women. We're just saturated with too many overblown
action films with no plot. That's ludicrous. It's so damn crazy! That's
absolutely sheer lunacy because Casino Royale is the blueprint of the
Bond character. You find out more about James Bond in that book than in
any of the other books. I would love to do a fifth Bond and then bow
out, but if this last one is to be my last, then so be it. My contract
is up. They can do it or not.
George
is just an angry, old, pissed off guy. He was never an actor, but some
pissed-off Aussie who doesn't know how to show his feminine side. I met
him, and he's got that kind of brittle edge to him. - On George Lazenby
When
you look at Ian Fleming's work, it's there on the page. The martinis,
the drugs, the cigarettes, the casino, the blood on the hands. But they
never went there. Hopefully, they will go there with Daniel. They have
the product, they have the man, and I'm sure they will.
I
have nothing against Republicans but this government has made decisions
which we are to suffer the consequences of for a long, long time. You
want to have faith in your leaders but it's very hard to have faith in
President George W Bush. Look at what he's done to the environment and
this savage war that has started. You speak up as an actor and people
will shoot you down hard and fast. But you don't speak as an actor. You
speak as a man, a working actor with a family.
It
never made it in to the papers, but I've had my face sliced open by a
stuntman and a knee injury. But it's all part and parcel of being Bond.
It
never felt real to me. I never felt I had complete ownership over Bond.
Because you'd have these stupid one-liners - which I loathed - and I
always felt phony doing them. I'd look at myself in the suit and tie and
think, 'What the heck am I doing here?' Such sentiments were nothing
new. That was always the frustrating thing about the role. Producers
Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson play it so safe. The pomposity
and rigmarole that they put directors through is astounding ... I can do
anything I want to do now. I'm not beholden to them or anyone. I'm not
shackled by some contracted image.
I
was trained as an actor and I was led to believe that I had a number of
performances in me. The fact that I've just given the same performance,
well maybe... If I can get away with it, why not? But I've reached a
point now where I'd better start trying to find some performances and
challenge myself.
You're
not even allowed to show a bloody nipple. It's pathetic. What Bond needs
is a good, palpable killing sequence and a good sex scene - and it
doesn't have to be graphic, you can use your imagination. We had a good
one in The Thomas Crown Affair - a really classy, sexy scene.
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