Jim Broadbent

I'm not that comfortable with actors receiving honours, partly because I think they ought to go to those who really help others.

A make-up artist I know polished her Oscar and it lost its lustre. But if you don't polish it, it doesn't tarnish.

When you research someone, you actually get beyond your own preconceptions and become aware of the human being other than the image. You become empathetic and sympathetic in turn.

Well, I actually wrote her a letter a couple of days ago congratulating her. The tone I tried to convey in the letter is, look, you are a part of a great American historical process.

I always tell people that revelling in big ideas for me is kind of like an antidote to existential angst.

I was a kind of angsty teenager and I would write diaries and write stuff down all the time. Sometimes I get to the level on stage where I'm singing and it feels heavy, but not always.