The classical actor in England makes roughly the equivalent of a bus driver.
— Roger Rees
If Shakespeare were alive today, he'd be doing sitcoms.
I love to argue and share bright ideas in a rehearsal room, and when you live with somebody who is working on the same show, the delight can go on all evening!
My neighborhood in South London was very Dickensian.
Sometimes I think I'll go off and be a milkman or a greengrocer, some easy job.
After I left the R.S.C., I did a musical, 'Masquerade,' where I played a rabbit. I was the lead.
I am an anthologist, you see. I sort of make anthologies for people.
Rattigan's world demanded unwavering trust in principles, loyalty, and virtue. At the time of this play - Rattigan was writing this play in 1947 about an incident that took place in 1914 - should a boy say he didn't do something, his father would believe him; a British father would take the defense of his son's honor to his grave.
Arthur Winslow is one of the great parts.
Nothing in the world in perfect. Even a still photograph.
I wish I'd played Coriolanus.
I was at a pretty rough school, and the only thing I was good at was art.
Television is an important part of how we communicate.
When it was announced I had won the Tony Award, I was in Bangkok doing a movie with Judi Dench. I remember coming back from the location to the Oriental Hotel and hearing someone yelling across the reception area, 'You've won the Tony!' It was wonderful and strange to be halfway around the world.
I think like an actor when I'm acting, and I think like a director when I'm directing.
I usually played comic lovers or losers - weak, ineffectual men.
I joined the Royal Shakespeare Co. with no experience whatsoever - I'd never been to a drama school or anything. But I was strong and could lift things, I could move scenery about.
The hard thing is making sure you work with wonderful people and that you get something out of it so that you can get better as an actor.
I was 36 when I played Nicholas Nickleby.
Well-written plays deserve to be learned from and understood properly, both by actors and audiences alike, and Rattigan's very human characters help us do that.
I don't think perfection is possible. I think you can attempt to reach perfection, but I don't think it's a possible thing. I think perfection is a moving point, and we spend our artistic lives chasing it.
Anything I do is as theatrical as I can get it.
Sometimes the most excruciating experiences in rehearsals and performances yield the most beautiful work.
Everything happens every night for this audience, and it's a very special occasion to come to the theatre.
More people saw me in one episode of 'Cheers' than would ever see me in a play.
In the Victorian age, actors played Romeo until they were 60 or 70 years old.
I just do what I'm asked, really.
Even Shakespeare gives you a scene off.
I was an art student when I was a boy, and as an art student you don't have to talk to anyone - you just have to paint really wonderful paintings. It's very unlike being an actor, where you have to talk all the time.
I'm really interested in the form, putting one piece up against another and finding something corroborative in another voice. I've done a lot of that.
That's been the tragedy of my life, actually. I've always looked younger than I am.
Rattigan wrote some very good plays.
No lens is quick enough to track the movement of the human body. The molecules are always moving.
I directed Bebe Neuwirth in 'Here Lies Jenny' at the Post Street Theatre. I was gobsmacked - the audiences were extremely knowledgeable, affectionate, interested, and not cynical.
I got out of this school and went to Camberwell College of Arts, a terribly prestigious thing to do. I was there to be a painter. And I sketched so well that, a year later, I was sent to Slade School of Fine Art, one of the great art schools.
