Quotes

[on being cast in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)] I'm incredibly excited, but the only way I can be of value is by ignoring fandom, ignoring the other movies to a certain extent, and just trying to do the best job possible. And I think it will be the same for everyone else.

I'd been very certain about not wanting to do the acting thing because of my father. I thought I'd always have the father-son thing of 'He got you the part.'

It was when I was on stage that I realized that acting could be such a brilliant job.

Look at Cillian Murphy: 'Batman,' 'Tron'... those are some heavy-hitting franchises. But he works his way around it. He manages to have a great career and a great life.

I'm pretty lowbrow. It's a failing.

Though rom-coms aren't necessarily my cup of tea, I was a huge fan of Notting Hill (1999). I laughed a lot, and the romance got to me.

Has anybody seen The Notebook (2004) and not cried? I don't know, I don't know if that's the case. It sort of hangs around for a while.

Often times, I just do a job and tell my agents, 'I'm in lockdown now.' I won't talk to anybody about anything else in the meantime, and I think that's generally the way to go because I also like to have a gap in between jobs.

Most of the time, I do what I'm offered, but after I worked for it. I think I try much harder for the things that scare me and inspire me. The things that scare and inspire you are things that are different from what you did before.

I've gotten work based on how I look, and I've not gotten work based on how I look. It's all good.

I'm pleased to say I grew up in a happy family in Dublin. I feel we're very close.

I like cashew nuts.

If there's one person in the world with whom a chemistry read is unnecessary, it's Rachel McAdams.

I'm not going to get better as an actor working on bad stuff.

The worst thing as an actor is when you're not getting opportunities to try and show what you can do; the best thing is when you get material that really lets you express something and that you're excited about.

As an actor, there's very little you can do if people don't want to see you. Just getting yourself into the room to audition is tough.

When you work with actors, what you're hoping to absorb is good ways to be an actor as opposed to how to handle being famous.

I think everybody's got their insecurities and hang-ups. Everybody! Unless you're an idiot.

I like films that are gritty and hard-hitting and suspenseful. Thrillers, too.

Everyone talks about how we're on our phones all the time, but the fact remains that when I'm away on a film set for two months, I can Skype my family. I remember the phone calls my parents had to make when my dad was away for a while when I was younger - that once-a-week expensive phone call! The time pressure on talking to your father!

Two things are always happening in acting. On the one hand, it's a team sport. We're all pulling together. But on the other, you have to look after your own character. Guard their interests.

There is something wonderful about turning up every day and knowing that not just the character but the whole movie kind of rests on your shoulders. And there's great satisfaction when you think it's going well and then real terror when you think it's not.

I worked with the Coen brothers, which had been a dream of mine.

My dad said, 'If no one was giving me acting work, I'd have to be prepared to create it myself.'

I'd rather do one day on a really cool movie than six months on something crap.

Going home, spending time with the family, I feel they're my friends as well, all of them. I look forward to meeting any one of them for a coffee, and when we all get together, I just love it.

I'd seen my dad on stage, and that was fine, but the real excitement was - that was my dad. Even now, when I see his films, he's always my favorite person in the movie.

The rom-com genre is not something that necessarily lights my jets.

Portraying as human the people you hear about on the news doing bad things is dangerous. But it's also necessary and important.

It's hard to get people up and out to shows, but 'The Walworth Farce' has masses of energy and will attract a crowd who don't always come to the theatre, which is great.

I think the whole thing is: If it makes sense in your head, the audience will go along with it.

I got to work with Cillian Murphy and my dad, Jim Broadbent and Jodie Whittaker on Perrier's Bounty (2009) It was a small part, but it was really special.

I tend to play 'tortured' a lot, whether it's physically or emotionally.

Fail again, fail better.

I'm a pessimist by nature, so it's always the worst things that come to mind first whenever you make a decision or have a decision to make.

Just because I'm doing 'Star Wars' doesn't mean that'll be the thing that makes people stop me in the street.

'Star Wars' is different to anything I've done before.

It's nice to sit down when you're not working. I try to do it as often as possible.

Normally, in a film with lots of twists and turns, half of them don't make sense; they're just there for their own sakes.

'Pale Fire' by Vladimir Nabokov was bloody hard work but really thrilling.

I did like 'Star Wars' when I was a kid. I saw the prequels first; I didn't see the full original films first all the way through.

My father is just getting better and better, and that speaks so well of the way he approaches the work.

Doesn't matter if I'm right or wrong - if I'm hungry or hot, I'm probably arguing with someone about something. Especially if that someone is rude.

I like Philip Larkin an awful lot; I really like his view on life, and I really connect to it.

I'm a little bit drifty. I'm a little bit all over the place.

I stand to learn more working as an actor with really talented people than I do by directing a feature.

Conventionally handsome is not really where I'm at.

Angelina Jolie is just an extremely talented, generous, nice person to be around and to work with.

I'm not built like a leading man.

I got very lucky with 'Harry Potter.' I got that role because I'm a ginger! Red hair was my only qualification!