Quotes from Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

The more secrets and twists in a character, the better.

Most female actresses will have a very difficult time being made unattractive.

I know nothing more annoying when people I don't know jump to conclusions on my person based on nothing but gossip or speculation.

Some of the stuff in Season 3 on 'Game of Thrones' - the amount of mud I had to eat, not intentionally but by accident - was pretty tough.

My mum was a librarian, and my dad worked in Greenland.

I've never understood why you would turn down a great role.

My old mother, she has no idea what's going on in this world.

I can't imagine life without my wife, but I don't think you should get a prize for staying together a long time.

As an actor, secrets and obstacles fuel the character.

I'm a fan of great storytelling.

It's okay for a guy to be a baddie, but a woman? No, we can't deal with that.

There's a Danish architecture firm called BIG. I love architecture, and I always check out their work; they're very good at reimagining the way we live. They put the human experience as the focus, with access to air and outdoor space.

If you look at most of the Royal Houses in Europe, the inbreeding was pretty outstanding.

We all would like to think that we would never, in a million years, have a glass of wine and get behind the wheel of a car, but it could happen, and then you could run a red light.

My ambition has always been to work with English and American actors and directors. Those were the movies that I was watching when I was growing up.

I like to read everything, really, especially autobiographies.

I started at drama school at 18.

I love political dramas. I love good story-telling.

What's great about 'Game of Thrones' is they change the perspective, the POV, all the time. So you will have one story told by one character and you'll go, 'Oh my God, horrible', and then maybe the season after you have the same story told but from the person you thought was just the most horrible, vile creature.

A villain to me is someone who actively seeks to hurt someone or does things for his own gain.

There's nothing exceptional about me, but there's something exceptional about Jaime Lannister, and I think that's what's interesting.

Everyone's expectation of New York is so big, and then you go, 'Oh, it really is like no other place on Earth!'

You can be as good an actor as you want but, if your accent is too strong, it's going to limit you.