I'd been trying for a while to get parts that weren't just the English bad guy, so it was quite refreshing to be playing someone who was a compassionate, decent guy.

I'm proud of Lord of the Rings. I think it's a once in a lifetime role, and a once in a lifetime film. It was made with so much care and passion and meticulous detail and everybody was so behind it.

Listen to people and treat people as you find them. There's an inherent goodness in most people. Don't pre-judge people - that was me Mam's advice anyway.

I sometimes find that playing the bad guy, or villains, or psychopaths tend to be much more psychologically rewarding. And you can really push it, you can push the limits, and get away with it.

If you have a very good concept of your character, you can snap into it.

My family thought the fascination with acting was just another fad.

Lord of the Rings was just so much enjoyment. It was over about the space of a year that I was filming. It's one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done, so emotional.

I'm still Sean that me mates went to school with, not Sean the film star. And that's the way I prefer to be.

It was such an interesting character and the film really explored his friendship with Bond and how it all went wrong, so it was a very personal journey for both characters.

To be honest, you have to do a big Hollywood film to get enough money to do a good independent film!

I had no intention of being an actor. I was quite good at it. I was pretty capable at other things but never any good at anything.

My mother is my friendWho shares with me her breadAll my hopelessness cured!Her company makes me secured!

It tastes like water spiked with strange.

The opinions of others are their perceptions. Define your life!

Nowadays, if you have a mustache, people look at you like you're crazy. But when I was growing up, I never saw my dad without a mustache.

War? The one war I'd be happy to join is the war against officers.

Everyone is always surprised by how old I am. They think I'm older, but it's always been that way. I'm the youngest of four - maybe you grow up quicker because you just watch the big people.

You can have a great time on a film and the chemistry can seem great but then you look at the finished film and it just doesn't quite gel, something doesn't quite work.

Certainly paradise, whatever, wherever it be, contains flaws. (Paradisical flaws, if you like.) If it did not, it would be incapable of drawing the hearts of men or angels.

If I have to try and write one more country single, I'll lose my mind.

The people don't elect U.S. presidents, God does.