John Hurt Quotes
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'The Naked Civil Servant' was as important for me as 'Easy Rider' was for Jack Nicholson. No question.
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Picasso was hugely innovative, and, wow, did he have facility, amazing ability, but I don't think he painted a masterpiece.
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Really, I'm only alive out of curiosity. I'm very curious about where we're all marching.
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I mark a script like an exam, and I try not to do anything under 50 per cent. Similarly with the part. And also film is a peculiar thing, parts don't necessarily read in script form anything like as well as they can do when it comes to materialising.
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There's an awful lot of hanging around when you're doing science fiction. Going down and waiting for them to set up, being told to go back to your dressing room while they change the track and the lighting and so on.
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My mother's father drank and her mother was an unhappy, neurotic woman, and I think she has lived all her life afraid of anyone who drinks for fear something like that might happen to her.
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The most difficult thing about painting is the self-discipline. When I finish a job, I give myself a few days, but then I have to discipline myself quite fiercely if I want to do some painting that's worthwhile. Otherwise, you're just doodling. It's much easier when you're just told what you have to do.
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I first got involved with Mel Brooks through 'The Elephant Man.' Everybody knows now, but they didn't know at the time that he was the producer.
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One thing that is likely to make you lose touch is if you keep in touch with the past too much.
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I never had any ambition to be a star, or whatever it is called, and I'm still embarrassed at the word.
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I see myself as an interpretative actor rather than a creative one.
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I seem to watch less and less television. The best thing in 'Downton Abbey' is Penelope Wilton. She is always worth the watch.
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Pretending to be other people is my game and that to me is the essence of the whole business of acting.
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For everything that you find dreadful, there's usually something that is rather marvelous as well.
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The first thing you have to get used to in any kind of acting is the ability to make a fool of yourself. If you haven't learnt how to make a fool of yourself, you shouldn't be on the boards. That's absolutely what it's all about.
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The difference between anger and deep remorse - remorse is much fatter. It's a deeper feeling altogether. Anger is too easy an escape for my money.
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I like the physical activity of gardening. It's kind of thrilling. I do a lot of weeding.
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I'm very much of the opinion that to work is better than not to work.
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If I'm in theatre, cinema doesn't even cross my mind. Similarly when I'm making a film, theatre doesn't cross my mind.
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Society is constantly recalibrating, redefining what it considers to be moral and immoral.
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I didn't want to teach. I wanted to act. It was quite a long and difficult road to get there but very thrilling when I did.
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My criteria when looking for a role is that I will do anything that stands the chance of succeeding on the level it is intended to. After that, if it's a part I can do something personal with.
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Also the wonderful thing about film, you can see light at the end of the tunnel. You did realise that it is going to come to an end at some stage.
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I'm not accustomed to doing films without seeing the script.