Quotes from Liam Cunningham

I'd always admired Sean Connery. Even though I wonder about some of his choices, I like him even in bad movies.

You have to look for story. That's obvious. If that's not on the page, you can forget it. But I also read whatever character I'm being offered. And if you can cut them out without it affecting the story, then I say no straight away.

I did a season at the Royal Shakespeare Company. People say, 'Why aren't you doing theater anymore?' And I say, 'Look, my kids have gotten used to wearing shoes.'

I wasn't interested in being an actor per se, but I liked acting, and I liked seeing what people would do.

I was an electrician, and now I'm in 'Electric Dreams.' It's almost bizarre.

If you're doing movies on a set... many times, I've shot the end of a movie in the first week of shooting. Because of locations or budgets or actors' availability.

I think HBO and a couple of the other cable channels in America are making some of the best television that's ever been made.

I don't feel superior because I think there's no God. Actually, I would love to be able to go, 'Well, the world hasn't been kind to me, but there's something good around the corner, because the Man has a plan.' I wish I believed that. There's wonderful comfort in that.

If I was offered the choice of an award for best actor or best supporting actor, I would go for supporting actor.

It's not beyond me to take my kids to see a good popcorn movie that's a roller coaster ride.

When 'Games of Thrones' is finished, I'm not one to go on about it too long and rest on one's laurels. The stuff that interests me is the work.

I work like a dog when I have to, but when I'm not working, I get terribly lazy and could sit around all day.

I've spent a lot of years waiting for the right thing to come in - and now, after 'Thrones,' there's a possibility that I could actually have a hand in getting something made.

I've never done a big series like 'Game of Thrones' before. All I knew was that it was HBO, and I'd seen what they had done with 'The Sopranos' and 'The Wire.' But when I started reading the script, it was a no-brainer. Yes, yes, yes. Gold. Every time I turned the page.

The attraction of power is heady, addictive. And as we know from real life, it can be a disease. A horrific disease.

'Game of Thrones,' people say that it's a fantasy series, but it's a hell of a lot more than that. It attracts the so-called geeks and nerds, and God bless them, they're wonderful for getting right into the show. But primarily it's about family; it's power and betrayal and jealousy. It's all those wonderful things that a fantastic drama is about.

One of the biggest guys I worked with was Sean Connery. People like Sean, Michael Caine, Denzel Washington, they've been going for a long time, and not for nothing. They want to get this job right, and they realise the weight of responsibility on their shoulders.

Because I came to acting quite late, I kind of think one of the few attributes that I do have is that I try to be honest with the character, with the writing. I'm not a tricksy actor; I'm not exactly a scenery-chewing kind of actor.

If anyone gets arrogant about their religion, that's when the religion isn't effective anymore. Any decent religion or any decent philosophy is always about tolerance and individual freedom, not about harm.

I was an electrician, and I started acting as a hobby because I needed a distraction - I was bored! And only when I started did I think, 'Sheesh, what have I gotten into?' I had to go after it fully; I just had to.

There's an old actor's saying about how you don't work with children or animals. I disagree with both of them. Some of the best times I've ever had were working with kids because there's an honesty to them.

Whether it's theatre or TV or film, you're hoping you're going to bump into a writer that's got a bit of honour in him, that wants to tell a good story and is able to tell it well.

I live an odd existence. I dip into bizarre, very expensive worlds, and then I'm back with a bang to reality, and I put the bins out.

I get that people are worried about their mortgages and bills that have to be paid. They don't have time to worry about the Syrian refugees, and I get that. The thing about it is, when it gets worse and worse and worse and down the line, it's no longer restricted to these places.