Quotes from Liam Cunningham

I was so hungry when I started attempting acting. Not even to be a professional. Just to find out if I could act.

I'm an inner city man, born and bred.

I was walking home from school when I was about 17 with two friends, and they took a left into an electrical shop. While we were chatting away, they grabbed a couple of forms and I was handed one. My mum found it and made me fill it in. I got called for an interview, and that's how I ended up being an electrician for 11 years.

I've always admired people like Donal McCann. He wasn't a household name, but if he put his name to something, you were guaranteed a good yarn at the very least.

Good luck to you if you're lucky enough to have faith. Some of us aren't lucky enough. My mother has great faith and finds great comfort in it, and I'm jealous of her!

I think everybody should have an interest in peace prevailing and the ridiculousness, the bestiality of war. I don't have any time for that. Anybody pulling a trigger is wrong. There is no right in war.

Paris is cafe culture, Dublin is pub culture, and that's the best place to solve all the world's problems: over a pint! One of the great joys of living, I think. The problems of the world seem to disappear.

The only thing an actor can do is, whatever lands on the carpet in the hall, you read it, and if you can't put it down, that's the job to do.

The best kind of television should mess with your head.

On a job, there's so much commitment you have to give, in regards to time, research... I like the tunnel vision of it that prevents anything else from getting in. The creativity and collaboration required there is very rewarding.

The best kind of art or writing holds up a mirror to society.

The demonization of people who don't have a voice is particularly despicable, and the only thing we can do in our own little way is hold a mirror up to society and kind of say we're better than that.

A person has already made the effort once they open a paper or turn on the news. They want to know what's going on in the world around them. That, in itself, shows they care. But the problem is, most people say, 'That's terrible,' and then move on. Because they find it too difficult to look at.

I don't consider myself - and I hope I'm never going to be - a 'movie star.' I'd like to be called an actor.

I hate the unfairness of injustice. Anybody who thinks they are better than others or 'chosen' or feel they have an entitlement... be it through monarchy, government or money. I think we are all born the same. We are entitled to an equal shot at life.

I've found that the older I get, the more spontaneous I become.

I had no acting background in my family and no experience of theatre. I hadn't even been in a school play.

I still say I have no interest in being an actor - I just love acting.

There's a certain amount of joy in playing a character in the moment and not knowing what's going to roll out as it goes on. It's a bit like life, in a way.

I love onions. I cook with them all the time.

You always have to have a bit of fun if somebody is dead in a scene. That's a red rag to a bull for an actor. You do a little poking. You do things to annoy the actor. It's your job. You have to utilize the opportunity. You have to get through the day.

I've got loads of ideas, but I need some structure in my life. I need a mission.

I suppose I am a bit of rough. I'm originally from Coolock: I'm rough around the edges.

I've always loved movies, so I tried to get into an acting school. I saw an ad for the Oscar school on the back of 'The Irish Times,' and I went along for an audition, very pragmatically, to see if I could do it or not.