Quotes from Ben Kingsley

It is better for me to serve a charity as an actor or a voice, rather than at a luncheon being just a celebrity.

With narration, you have to be very accurate with your voice. It's a good exercise to do.

I try and reduce myself to an almost blank slate and hope to God that I am creative.

I'm convinced that had I not changed my name, I don't think I would have had quite the same career curve that I eventually had.

There's so much crap talked about acting.

The hierarchy of class in London was rigid. It was like a religion. It still is to a certain extent.

I've never had to turn my hand to anything for monetary gain, other than pretending to be somebody else. I'm deeply fortunate.

I think if I were to go back on stage I might be in great danger of acting.

I honestly have no strategy whatsoever. I'm waiting for that script to pop through the letterbox and completely surprise me.

In cinema, the leading player is the director.

But filming is good for you, because the crew isn't allowed to laugh. You can't get addicted to getting the laugh.

If your best friend has stolen your girlfriend, it does become life and death.

When you drop your guard in films, the acting process compensates. You get lazy and you start acting.

As a singer, I might have fallen among thieves. I wonder if I'd still be alive by now.

There is so much to do on a film set. It is an extraordinarily invigorating and wonderful place to be, when things are running well.

There was one titanic guiding light on the film set, and I was in the presence of a true Mahatma, in the deepest and most profound sense of the word.

I think that you can fall into bad habits with comedy... It's a tightrope to stay true to the character, true to the irony, and allow the irony to happen.

One of the greatest things drama can do, at it's best, is to redefine the words we use every day such as love, home, family, loyalty and envy. Tragedy need not be a downer.

If your best friend has stolen your girlfriend, it does become life and death.

The hierarchy of class in London was rigid. It was like a religion. It still is to a certain extent.

I try and reduce myself to an almost blank slate and hope to God that I am creative.

One of the greatest things drama can do, at it's best, is to redefine the words we use every day such as love, home, family, loyalty and envy. Tragedy need not be a downer.

Being a leading man on a film set under the direction of somebody like Dickie Attenborough is very empowering, and you have to be extremely careful how you use that power.

Fifteen years before I became a screen actor, I was in the theatre. A lot of my work was comedy, which I loved doing. It's harder.