I'm convinced that had I not changed my name, I don't think I would have had quite the same career curve that I eventually had.

I've never had to turn my hand to anything for monetary gain, other than pretending to be somebody else. I'm deeply fortunate.

In cinema, the leading player is the director.

In England, it's now Sir Ben. Mister has just disappeared. It's not even on my passport anymore. They've taken Mister away from me.

It is better for me to serve a charity as an actor or a voice, rather than at a luncheon being just a celebrity.

John Lennon and Ringo Starr liked my songs. I used to write songs and they heard me sing songs on stage in London.

Movie magic is movie magic and acting magic is acting magic.

The hierarchy of class in London was rigid. It was like a religion. It still is to a certain extent.

The many many imponderables come together when a film opens and for all sorts of reasons it may or may not succeed.

The trick is to try and justify every word on the page and make sure my character is the man who would say that.

There have not been any troughs as regards my work. There's never been a trough of my assurance.

There is so much to do on a film set. It is an extraordinarily invigorating and wonderful place to be, when things are running well.

There was one titanic guiding light on the film set, and I was in the presence of a true Mahatma, in the deepest and most profound sense of the word.

There's so much crap talked about acting.

Well, it's wonderful to be identified strongly with my work.

When you drop your guard in films, the acting process compensates. You get lazy and you start acting.

With narration, you have to be very accurate with your voice. It's a good exercise to do.

Hopefully, as I get older in the business, I make my choices more accurately, and I perhaps know from either the script or the first meeting that it isn't going to work.

I do remember, as a child, that I always imagined, when I was maybe 6 or 7, my fantasy was that everywhere I went I was being followed by an invisible film crew.

I think that all of us either lose touch with the child inside us or try and hold onto it because it so precious to us and it's such an extraordinary part of our lives.