Quotes

Sometimes people get really sniffy about the films you choose if you've done more dramatic projects or you're classically trained.

I love a film where I get squished by two Dumpsters or I fly through the air.

Kids are more genuine. When they come up and want to talk to you, they don't have an agenda. It's more endearing and less piercing to your aura.

[on therapy] It's like a workout for the mind.

I think directing in a team is a really good idea because it stops the cult of the director as God straight away, and also you're discussing things on set so it opens it out to everyone and it becomes a totally collaborative thing. And you have someone who supports you when you're feeling a bit insecure.

[on why he feels well-suited to play Salvador Dali] We share a bonkers gene.

[on Scottish independence] The Better Together campaign is really like ferrets in a sack. Their backs are against the wall. The fear has not been working, the Scottish people are sick and tired of being patronised.

[advocating a yes vote for Scottish independence] People who are staunch Labour supporters, have been for generations, like myself, actually, are now realising that the only way to keep the values and to keep the priorities that Labour voters have is with a yes vote.

[on Eyes Wide Shut (1999)] I worked for five days on it. Normally, a scene like that would be shot in half a day or a day. Basically, Kubrick would just let me go, let me play and let me try different things. It was such fun. And every little moment and nuance was important to him, and it was a really good thing for me, because I've done so many films where you sort of arrive, do your shtick and go away. A lot of the time in film, you just sort of wing it, but with him, it felt like you were really, really polishing something to make it as good as it possibly could be. So it was quite a lot of direction for that wee scene. I felt like he wouldn't actually let me go home until it was as good as he thought it could be. It was a really great week of my life. Tom Cruise was faultless - very willing to have a bash at different things. I thought that was really brave of him as well, that he was cool with that. He is obviously pretty sure of himself and confident. We did it so many different ways, and he was so focused every time.

(Why he left Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark) "Because it just fucked me about. It kept getting delayed and delayed, and so I was like, 'OK, time to move on.'"

(If he'd attend the Oscars) "Oh no, those things aren't much fun. But when I did once go, I got pushed out of the way twice, in one weekend, by Diana Ross. Literally, her hair went into my face. And one of those times, she was pushing me out of the way to get to the dancefloor to dance to one of her own songs. Isn't that just the best?"

(On leaving Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) "My GOD, that was a lucky escape. Jesus Christ! Talk about dodging a bullet there!"

"My feeling about work is it's much more about the experience of doing it than the end product. Sometimes things that are really great and make lots of money are miserable to make, and vice versa".

(On comments by Richard Chamberlain and Rupert Everett about not coming out) "I think it's so mean-spirited. If you're living a lie, that's not healthy, and I think it is really irresponsible of [Chamberlain] and Rupert to say these things...But it's not about your work. It's about how you exist as a person in the world, and the idea that your work is more important than you as a person is a horrible, horrible message. I always think about a little gay boy in Wisconsin or a little lesbian in Arkansas seeing someone like me, and if I cannot be open in my life, how on earth can they? Anyway, it's an academic question: how can you know [that coming out affects your career]? Some people get less work than others and it has nothing to do with sexuality."

I think the news media has to look at what really their job is as a reporter or a journalist in the news media. It is to challenge falsehoods. And to take people to task and to make sure the viewers are getting an unbiased and honest and accurate account of what is happening. Now that, obviously, did not happen in the U.S. election and obviously did not happen in the Brexit campaign. So I think it is a time for the news media to completely reassess how they communicate the news and how the whole system is set up. [Nov. 2016]

My sexuality has never been black and white; it's always been gray. I'm with a man, but I haven't closed myself off to the fact that I'm still sexually attracted to women.

[on living in Donald Trump's America]: It is a fascist country and I'm paying taxes to it. It's horrible.

I love Obama, but I do feel he didn't do us a favour by not letting on about the level of racism and fury he was subjected to. We all thought America was in a much better state than it actually was, because it's always just teetering on the brink of awfulness.

[on Donald Trump's promise to "make America great again"]: Make America like the 1950s again, more like. When black people would serve you, you could do whatever you liked, and anyone you didn't like, you would get the boys to duff them up. That's what they want. That's what they are creating.

[on King Charles III's visit to America, 2026]: Poor Charles! How low do you go? I mean, what a terrible job, having to go and smile and shake the hand of THAT president to basically save Kier Starmer's arse!