Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons: (1986 comment on Robert De Niro) He is a method actor. I think it would be fair to say he's much slower than I am. As a man, Bob dislikes making a decision. And acting is a whole line of decisions. You make a decision every time you play a line -- do I say it like this or like that? But what I saw was a man trying many areas and now and again something would really work.

Jeremy Irons: (When asked about why he accepted his role in Dungeons & Dragons) Are you kidding? I'd just bought a castle, I had to pay for it somehow!

Jeremy Irons: If we have to pay taxes [for Emmy gift bags], so be it. But don't spend it on bombs, for Christ's sake.

Jeremy Irons: Basically, I want to keep working, so I don't worry about the size of the character - if it's interesting, I'll do it. It's quite nice doing smaller roles, in some ways. It means I get home more, and I can get on with my life.

Jeremy Irons: I'm never satisfied. I think were I ever satisfied with my work, I'd be in trouble.

Jeremy Irons: I've never been passionate about acting, and I find more and more that I work to live the life I want to live. An actor like Al Pacino lives to act. I'm not sure though, there's something about the detachment I have, the feeling of the lack of importance about what I do, that is healthy.

Jeremy Irons: We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams.

Jeremy Irons: Because I'm now successful, what I'm being offered as an actor is more and more of the same.

Jeremy Irons: I sing like an actor, but I dance like a duck.

Jeremy Irons: The movie industry is run by accountants in Hollywood and it's as simple as this; everyone has a number on their computer. They can look up Jeremy Irons and see what my last five movies have made. Say you want to make a $20m picture, which is relatively cheap. If Jeremy makes $9 million, the director makes $5 million, then you need a leading lady, and they just go through those figures - that's how casting happens. And none of my movies has made a lot of money.

Jeremy Irons: My name is certainly not pronounced 'Eye-rons,' but just like the metal. In England we say, 'Eye-ons' - we're lazy about our Rs. Here in the USA, I guess you would say 'Ire-ons.' The name is fairly common in England, it's probably short for 'Ironsmith'.

Jeremy Irons: Actors often behave like children, and so we're taken for children. I want to be grown up.