To be able to do this job in the first place you've got to have a bit of an ego.
To be honest, I'm a little tired of playing bad guys. I long to do a comedy. But it was fun knocking Indiana Jones around.
I don't think Hollywood knows what to do with me. I would imagine that when it comes to romantic comedies, my name would be pretty low down on the list.
We're given a code to live our lives by; we don't always follow it but it's still there.
With Beethoven I said I wanted a role where I didn't have to do anything stupid with my hair. My agent said, 'Read it again.'
I measure success by the degree to which I ruin other people's lives.
I've done so much R-rated work, it's nice to have a job you can show your kids. - on making Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I guess what I'm trying to say is it's not Dracula crying, it's Gary Oldman, but using the technique of the character. The emotion is mine, because I don't know what it's like to be undead and live 300 years.
Any actor who tells you that they have become the people they play - unless they're clearly diagnosed as a schizophrenic - is bullshitting you.
Change is vital to any actor. If you keep playing lead after lead, you're really gonna dry up. Because all those vehicles wean you away from the truths of human behaviour.
There's an uncanny thing that chemically happens to you when you're in the chronic stages of alcoholic drinking. I have been able, on occasions, to have two bottles of vodka and still be up talking to people. That got very frightening. By nature I'm an isolationalist, so my boozing was at home, thank you. I was not a goer-outer. I mean, I didn't drink for the taste and I didn't want to be social. Someone once described alcoholics as egomaniacs with low self-esteem. Perfect definition.
What an arrogance to think you could ever understand my intentions. - "Air Force One"
I know this tune, let's change the beat. "Fifth Element"
How can I live if my enemies, who are many, believe I no longer possess the one sense that should be perfect to a higher degree in me than in others? - "Immortal Beloved"
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