Quotes

I hate the "suave and debonair" tag. I am neither.

When you have a label stuck on you, people tend to believe it. If someone calls you suave and debonair you only get offered parts in a suit and a collar and tie. It just so happens I wear them reasonably well.

The quality of writing attracts me to films, also who the other actors are, who the director is, where it's being shot. Any or all of those things. But if the writing is really appalling then the money had better be really good. Sometimes you say yes to something you wouldn't always do because you need the money.

Hollywood seems to be now moving away from the idea of casting Brits as villains and is casting the French instead. It's something to do with the war, I suspect.

[1987 comment on Meryl Streep] Let's just say I found her a little distant. I hardly got to know her. We had dinner a couple of times, but she only spoke about work. I didn't find her easy to work with, but it's not her job to make it easy for me.

[1987 comment on Trevor Howard] I believe Trevor Howard has quite a nice, gentle riposte to unwanted attention. Someone saw him in a bar once and said, "Are you Trevor Howard?". "Yes," he replied, "when I'm working I am."

[1987 comment on Shirley MacLaine] She's an extraordinary woman, a little 'round the bend I think, but she's been doing what she does for a long time and she does it very well. Where Meryl Streep is intellectual, Shirley follows her gut. I like that better.

[on certain scenes in the television series Game of Thrones (2011)] You saw all this violence and all this rumpy pumpy, and it's all doggie-style. I said to [the executive producers] "Obviously, the missionary position didn't come into vogue for a few years yet in the Seven Kingdoms". And they said "We wanted it to be kind of animalistic, Charles" and I said, "Well, it's certainly that".

I just like working. Unless it's complete and utter crap. I've got *some pride.

It's more fun being the villain. And if the writing is good and the villain is three-dimensional, well, that's the most fun. The hard work is done for you.