Alan Rickman

Film has to be reflecting the world that we live in, and that's all you want to be a part of. Actors inhabit the same planet as everyone else. It's a weird thing that happens when you're an actor because people hold you up because you somehow embody in parts groups of people or people's hopes or something.

You can act truthfully or you can lie. You can reveal things about yourself or you can hide. Therefore, the audience recognizes something about themselves or they don't -- You hope they don't leave the theatre thinking that was nice...now where's the cab?'

I'm a lot less serious than people think, it's probably because the way my face is put together.

Those of you who are not aware of my brilliant career as a stand up comic, I'm not aware of it either so we might well wonder what we're doing here.

Acting is mostly about listening. If you just focus in on what the other person is saying, acting takes care of itself to quite a large extent.

When I am asked about influences, I always say I bow down to Fred Astaire, because when you look at him dancing you never look at his extremities, do you? You look at his centre. What you never see is the hours of work that went into the routines, you just see the breathtaking spirit and freedom.

I'm always aware of the camera and it feels like that's the audience.

There's a voice inside you that tells you what you should do.

If only life could be a little more tender and art a little more robust.

Maverick is a word which appeals to me more than misfit. Maverick is active, misfit is passive.

Three children have become adults since a phone call with Jo Rowling, containing one small clue, persuaded me that there was more to Snape than an unchanging costume, and that even though only three of the books were out at that time, she held the entire massive but delicate narrative in the surest of hands.

Any actor who judges his character is a fool - for every role you play you've got to absorb that character's motives and justifications.

On the screen were some flashback shots of Daniel, Emma and Rupert from ten years ago. They were 12. I have also recently returned from New York, and while I was there, I saw Daniel singing and dancing (brilliantly) on Broadway. A lifetime seems to have passed in minutes.

I get stage fright and gremlins in my head saying: 'You're going to forget your lines'.

It is an ancient need to be told stories. But the story needs a great storyteller. Thanks for all of it, Jo.

And it's a human need to be told stories. The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are, where we come from, and what might be possible.

Los Angeles is not a town full of airheads. There's a great deal of wonderful energy there. They say 'yes' to things; not like the endless 'nos' and 'hrrumphs' you get in England!

You try to find things that are challenging and interesting and hopefully it will be the same to the audience.

I am hellbent on defying your expectations, at every turn, and even if you don't like what's being done, I dare you to find it uninteresting.

What's interesting about the process of acting is how often you don't know what you're doing.

Actors are agents of change. A film, a piece of theater, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world.