Quotes from Antony Sher

We've all got darkness inside us. And I've got quite a lot of darkness.

I believe deeply in therapy. There's no one in the world who wouldn't benefit from it.

I never regret things. It's a really dangerous thing to say, but for anyone involved in the arts, the bad things that happen make for good material. It's not a comfortable truth, but it is true.

I feel so sorry for younger actors who aren't able to have the opportunities that I had, starting out in repertory theatre. It's really tough on young actors now.

I love playing outsiders, I always do.

I'm a huge fan of David Hockney. I love the way he keeps reinventing himself.

I love the mixture that's in me. It makes me me. And that's why it's such a shame that people waste energy in denying who they are.

I'm always very proud of belonging to three minorities: gay, Jewish, white South African.

As a gay Jewish white South African, I belong to quite a lot of minority groups. You constantly have to question who you are, what you are and whether you have the courage to be who you are.

My grandparents all came from Lithuania to South Africa.

Most of my career has been spent with the RSC doing Shakespeare, and the thing you learn from Shakespeare is that his historical plays don't bear anything other than a basic resemblance to history.

The whole of my acting career is a bit of a mystery to me.

When I am on a long run in a play, I'm not sure how I would fill the days if I did not paint or write. On a basic level, it just stops me going crazy.

Every play I do, every book I write, every painting I paint, I will struggle with. I don't know what it's like for a project to come easy.

I don't believe in an afterlife.