I'm fairly competitive.

I always approach film as a fan.

Big things have small beginnings.

I definitely think the first works best.

We're all curious about a lot of things.

Nobody wants to hear Metallica at lunchtime.

I’m aware of my weaknesses and THE BEAST WITHIN.

I could never swim in the ocean after seeing Jaws.

I keep everything very simple. I like telling stories.

As an actor, it's always been good to be working at all.

It's a difficult thing as an actor not to repeat one's self.

I don't think peroxide-blond hair is a beneficial look for me.

Any good kitchen should be stocked up in oysters, shouldn't they?

Even if I'm playing a superhero, it has to be steeped in reality.

It's more interesting isn't it, if I've got a hedonistic dark side?

You want society to accept you; but you can’t even accept yourself.

If I'm playing a murderer, I don't go out and start murdering people.

As an audience member and as an actor I much prefer to find ambiguity.

I love to go into a movie and have no idea what's going to happen in it.

I've always been more inclined to go out to work than carry on with academic studies.

It's such a terrifying thing when mobs of people get together and persecute foreigners.

I might have been curious about actors' lives when I was growing up. That's human nature.

I try my best to find variety in what I'm doing, but there's a lot out there that's the same.

The actors I looked up to when I was a teenager, they all just disappeared into different characters.

I take my work seriously but I can't take myself too seriously. I'm in such a crazy privileged position.

The arts are very alive in Ireland, so that had its influence on me. But I consider myself European, really.

Trying to identify and understand, as opposed to judging, is very important for me, in approaching characters.

My goal was for acting to become my main income. I would say to myself, 'I'm good enough'. That became my mantra.

People are complicated. Our behavior towards one another is strange. So I like opportunities to investigate that.

My goal was for acting to become my main income. I would say to myself, 'I'm good enough.' That became my mantra.

I'm not going to talk about my private life with a total stranger, unless I feel like I need to. Why would I? I don't.

Everyone's crazy anyway. And those who think they aren't, are the ones who are even crazier - because they're in denial.

'Hunger' definitely changed my life, in terms of being recognized by filmmakers, since that was very much a filmmakers' film.

Sometimes if I stick in a character too much I feel like I might start to get blinkered, because I'm making my decisions too definite.

Everything I put my name to and take part in, I want to be good. That's not saying it will always happen. But I want to make bold choices.

I don't like to plan anything ever because it never seems to work. I'm just really...let's just get this film out and see how this one does.

There's no point in swanning through and being cool as a breeze in every scene. It's not really that interesting. Even if you're a superhero.

[As an actor] I have ideas, but things should always be fluid. You should always be ready to follow an instinct. Something might reveal itself on the day.

At one point you think, well, it's funny, I could just be a starving actor... So if somebody were to pull the plug right now, there'd be no room for complaint.

I think the fact that us as a race still continues to be very tribal and we haven't really moved away from that over hundreds and hundreds of years of experience.

You know, when you finish the day, and you finish the scene, you don't get a chance to go back to it. So you wanna make sure that everything is left on the floor.

We feel a lot of pressure about looking silly or appearing weak, whatever that means, or being a failure. You have to keep in your head: what's the worst that can happen?

I'm always interested in trying to investigate different personalities. I want to keep myself guessing and keep the fear element alive, so that I don't get too comfortable.

When I go the cinema, unfortunately nowadays, especially with the big commercial films, the audience is spoon-fed through the entire experience and they don't have to do any work.

What I find really interesting is to try and mix it up, to push myself and try different things. I don't want to stay in my comfort zone. I want to take risks and keep myself scared.

When I was four, I just wanted to drive, I collected toy cars. Where does that sort of thing come from? In hindsight you go, 'Oh, liked it because of this.' Maybe it's just the wheel.

If you're addicted to gambling, you know where to go to gamble. So, if you have a condition where you're addicted to sex, you know where other that are looking for the same thing are going.

I don't know what's going to happen. I'm flavor of the month at the moment, but somebody else is going to roll around the corner in three months' time. I just want to keep working. I can't stop!

You know, it's amazing. I don't even have a car, would you believe it? I had a motorbike and it got stolen last year. So I've got to buy another one of those, I suppose. I can treat myself to that.

We did a lot of that in drama school: intellectualising and maybe justifying your position. 'I am a thinking actor and I have thought this through' - well, just do it. I much prefer the doing aspect.

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