Quotes from Tim Pigott-Smith

When you're in a good play and a good production, you find that you're in something that has a life beyond you. You think, 'Oh my goodness, this play's alive.'

What a wonderful life I've had - absolutely amazing.

I never wanted to do film. I don't have the right face, and I don't like stardom. I like the fact that I have this wonderful thing that gives you status, but I'm most interested in doing decent work.

The 'reality' shows on television, the Internet, these things have encouraged people to behave with less and less restraint. We are broadcasting our emotions in public in a way that has never happened before.

American writers reduce the length of time devoted to exposition and character development.

People wrote about me and started calling me a star, and I just hated it. There are aspects of it that are great - I mean, you can ring up any restaurant and get in, can't you.

If you can't educate your citizens and you can't keep them healthy, you can't begin to be a society.

You never learn to act in front of a camera. You never learn anything in front of a camera. But you learn to act in a rehearsal room with a good play and a good cast and a good director.

I adore Biarritz. I first went there in the Eighties, and my wife and I liked it so much that we ended up buying a holiday home there.

Everybody wants a movie career. I found that pretty elusive. I did make a movie with Martin Sheen about a nuclear scientist who has a religious experience. I don't even know what it was called. I don't think it was ever released.

When I have a good performance, I'm wrecked at the end of it. I feel completely empty, and tears are pouring down my face - I'm just gone.

I would say that the money that was invested in me by Warwickshire Education Authority, which they did for five years, has been repaid a hundred times over. I have paid a lot more back to them in tax than they paid in support to me, but they helped me on my way - they launched me; they got me going.

'Jewel in the Crown' is the biggest exposure I've ever had on television.

I always remember to go on the Staten Island Ferry because it's the most amazing view of New York. And it's free! You see Ellis Island, and it conjures up something of that great moment: you know, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. It's staggering.

My wife is a fantastic traveller. She's good fun and very optimistic. Even if things get bad, she's good at seeing the light side.

Perhaps it's an accident of nationality, but the English treasure subtlety and appreciate not having everything spelled out for them, while Americans want everything made apparent.

Understand me, Hollywood miniseries are very popular in England. But British miniseries make a tremendous mark on the national consciousness. They become part of the national culture and mythology... at least for a time.

Slower television actually credits the audience with a higher level of intelligence.

The worst nickname I ever had was Tim Pig-ears-Smith. I had big ears. When I was younger, it was more pronounced. So I felt huge sympathy towards Prince Charles over that.

I can't understand why TV tries to appeal to youth.

When I grew up, in the time of 'Look Back in Anger,' the theatre was very exciting, a place where you felt that social comment could lead to social change.

I love Stevie Wonder for his sense of rapture in the music. He can swing through a zappy tune, lift your heart, or drift into a sad ballad with consummate ease.

My parents were fantastic. I was an only child, so I had a lot of love and too much attention. I don't think I was spoilt. My mother was quite a disciplinarian, but I did have a lot of attention and quite a lot of pressure to do well at whatever I was doing.

Fame changed my life completely because, for a while, I was in a position to choose what I did. I miss that aspect. But I always felt uncomfortable with it.