Nigel Hawthorne

Nigel Hawthorne: (About his role in Inside) Not a particularly nice gentleman, as you may suspect. I remember growing up knowing there were characters like that around, brutally loathsome people who caused such fear. I wanted to make this film as my act of revenge on them.

Nigel Hawthorn: A lot of actors like to work out what they're going to do. I don't. It's very much like a tennis match. You don't know what you're going to do until the other person suggests things. That's the way I work in the theatre. It drives people mad.

Nigel Hawthorne: I think all the quirky things that I have in me, all my oddnesses and my mannerisms and my absurdities and my shortcoming and my weaknesses and my faults are all useful. They are the things that I tap into when I'm working on a role, they are what make up what I am, and I know them very well.

Nigel Hawthorne: In the academic world of the University of Capetown I slid into an English course, and as part of the course there was the occasional production, the first of these being She Stoops to Conquer. I played an incredibly old man, Sir Somebody-Somebody, the first in a long line of Sir Somebody-Somebodies.

Nigel Hawthorne: I feel that too much fuss is made about being gay. I've been a homosexual all my life. My partner and I don't want to stand up and say we're gay, because we think that's wrong. The best way to get people to accept you is to move about the community and show them there's nothing to be afraid of.

Nigel Hawthorne: (About his role in Yes, Minister) I'm always astonished that people still remember that show. In America people come up to me and say, 'Hi, Sir Humph!', I can walk down Whitehall today and every policeman on the beat will say good morning to me.