My grandparents all came from Lithuania to South Africa.
You don't expect to get the letter saying, Her Majesty would like to appoint you Knight Commander of the British Empire! It was just a completely overwhelming and exciting day.
If I could write a letter to my teenage self, I'd probably say something like: 'You ain't gonna believe what will become of you.'
I'm a complete technophobe. I can't even email.
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.
I'm always very proud of belonging to three minorities: gay, Jewish, white South African.
We've all got darkness inside us. And I've got quite a lot of darkness.
I'm a huge fan of David Hockney. I love the way he keeps reinventing himself.
I was a weak kid, not good at what all the boys at school were good at and I found that by acting, by being other people, I could liberate myself from those inadequacies.
What drew me to acting in the first place was disguise.
The whole of my acting career is a bit of a mystery to me.
I have no cynicism at all.
Life is just more comfortable if you're honest and open about everything. I spent so many years being in the closet about one thing or another.
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.
I love playing outsiders, I always do.
I was never built to play the hero. Physically or emotionally... And they're not as rewarding to play. At least for me.
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.
When I'm painting and drawing I only do people. Acting is obviously portraiture - and writing is as well.
It's good for actors to confront those things we have to act: panic, pain and death.
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.
