I did a Norwegian film called 'Insomnia' that was remade and that was a good remake by a good director, so I'm honoured.
— Stellan Skarsgard
Most of my acting in general is about what's going on in the head, and the lines are just something that comes out.
You always have to figure out what the director is good at before you work with them; then you can fill in if need be.
It's fun to play characters with a past, but it's also fun to play any role that is what I would call a 'pressure cooker' kind of character, where the lid is on, and it's left to simmer throughout the movie.
My performance is totally dependent on what the other actors are doing.
It's a disease we have that we think that everything is explainable. It's a merchandising idea because you can sell explanations and cures for everything, but it doesn't work like that. It's very hard to understand everything.
How many big American films do you see where the heroine has no vanity whatsoever?
I'm not always happy when Hollywood does remakes of films, but that's usually when they have a very, very, very good film, and they take away anything controversial from it and make flatter.
When you have kids, you see what's important.
The Sermon on the Mount is a very nice piece about being good, but most of the Bible is a very revengeful, childish, brutal God.
I know how to cut meat, yeah. I know how to cook, basically.
I've made six films for Disney, and they have a clause in their contracts called the morality clause that I've always refused to sign.
I think I was 13 years old when my father put in my hands 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.' It was the first real adult book I ever read, and it opened a new world.
The distribution systems and the cinemas have adopted to the blockbusters, and they now get their main income from selling popcorn, and if you don't make a film that sells popcorn, it's very hard to get it out there.
It's good to pay high taxes - you have free schools, free universities. It's a much more decent society than those where everybody pays their own way, and some people don't get anything.
With Fincher, you can take chances and try things. And what happens is that any pretension and preparation you've done, all the square, intellectual work, you can't keep that up for 40 takes. It breaks down, and new things start popping up. This, for me, is the most exciting thing about film-making.
The way I look at humanity, I don't think there's good guys or bad guys. We're all potentially bad and potentially good.
I'm so full of useless information; I'm the kind of person that collects useless information. I like to know everything!
I said yes to 'Nymphomaniac' before it was written.
Some directors are interested in acting, and others are only interested in cranes and moving the camera.
We were working under very harsh conditions on 'Zero Kelvin.' We were up there in the Arctic, closer to the North Pole than to a hospital. Sometimes you had to sleep in small Arctic tents with guns to protect yourself from polar bears and stuff.
I like working with Kenneth Branagh.
When Lars Von Trier calls me, I say yes without reading the script because often the script hasn't been written yet, and if Fincher called me again, I'd say yes without reading the script, too.
I go where I think I can enjoy myself. Sometimes it's on a big movie, and sometimes it's even on a silly movie.
Of course, working with Halle Berry is fantastic. Every day, you're looking at a performance that you would be prepared to pay to watch. She's truly great and truthful, and it's a joy.
I reflect over my actions; I don't dwell on them.
Even with limited success as an actor, you usually have a more interesting life than in many other professions, so it's not an unreasonable choice.
The biggest enemy of any actor is fear.
I do believe in humanism, and I believe that we should treat each other with respect and care and look after each other. All human beings should have an equal chance to survive in society, and inequality is a big problem in society.
I am indeed a fan of John le Carre's novels.
In Europe, the director is the king: it's his vision. It's an auteur tradition.
I only did 'Thor' because it was Kenneth Branagh directing, but I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.
I've never thought of myself as a professional. I very rarely do something I don't enjoy.
Norwegian kids, they grow up well educated in film. So they have a lot of good directors there.
We have to know that the bad guys are not different from us in the world.
Rupert Murdoch is in bed with Cameron. Of course they want to kill the BBC... anybody who is in the way.
The difference between an experienced director and a new director is not as big as the difference between individual directors, the temperament they have, and the things they're interested in.
Some actors are what I call more like mirror actors, which means that they do a performance at home in front of the mirror, and then they go deliver it. I'm not that type.
Lars von Trier is a very good storyteller. He's like an H. C. Andersen for adults.
Very often, it's the director that I'm attracted to. If it's a really good director, I don't even have to read the script to say yes.
When we did 'Breaking the Waves,' he had a sign on the wall that said, 'Make mistakes.'
Acting is such a strange, vague profession, but my kids know it's hard labour.
I wanted to be a man who travelled the world to make peace. I didn't realise that most diplomats are megaphones for their governments.
The only respect you should have is the one you earn.
Any society that starts forbidding certain words or expressions is a society you should be wary about, whether it's the KGB or social consensus that enforces it.
I really enjoy being part of the Marvel Universe. It's a cool bunch of people to work with, and they know what they're doing.
Kenneth Branagh is one of the funniest directors on the set. You laugh a lot. He's very skillful.
The first time I did a big American film, I was surprised by all the different financiers who came to the set and told the director what to do.
I think Dan Brown is a terribly bad writer, but he has cliff-hangers after every chapter which makes you continue reading.
Shooting should not be about delivering something I've prepared; it should be a live process of finding things out. When things happen that you haven't planned, that's when the film comes alive.
