Kenneth Branagh is one of the funniest directors on the set. You laugh a lot. He's very skillful.
There's so many films made out of bad books, and I don't have time for those.
The way I look at humanity, I don't think there's good guys or bad guys. We're all potentially bad and potentially good.
My performance is totally dependent on what the other actors are doing.
Because of ignorance, I wasn't a big fan of Marvel. I hadn't read the magazines. They were not as big in Europe as they are in the United States. They're more a part of modern American mythology. I know more about the original Thor than the Marvel Thor.
I only did 'Thor' because it was Kenneth Branagh directing, but I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.
You learn a lot from kids.
I'm in Stockholm in my office. I just got here after seeing my eighth child on an ultrasound, so I'm in a good mood. It's beautiful: an energetic little skeleton.
The distribution systems and the cinemas have adopted to the blockbusters, and they now get their main income from selling popcorn, and if you don't make a film that sells popcorn, it's very hard to get it out there.
I think Dan Brown is a terribly bad writer, but he has cliff-hangers after every chapter which makes you continue reading.
My life reads more like Proust than a tabloid.
I grew up in a family where you were allowed to say anything; you were allowed to show weakness... I have no problems talking about anything, basically. But at the same time, I know I'm different than a woman.
One of the beauties of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' is the very delicate and strange relationship between the two main characters.
There is no overacting, only untrue acting.
Some actors are what I call more like mirror actors, which means that they do a performance at home in front of the mirror, and then they go deliver it. I'm not that type.
The countries where you have the most fear of immigrants are the countries where you have the least immigration.
I mean... mankind has for hundreds of years known that torture is not a very smart way to get information. It's horrible that we're going back to medieval times.
We have to know that the bad guys are not different from us in the world.
When I had kids, I became a better actor. I just stole from them.
Any society that starts forbidding certain words or expressions is a society you should be wary about, whether it's the KGB or social consensus that enforces it.
Of course, working with Halle Berry is fantastic. Every day, you're looking at a performance that you would be prepared to pay to watch. She's truly great and truthful, and it's a joy.
Even with limited success as an actor, you usually have a more interesting life than in many other professions, so it's not an unreasonable choice.
For 'Avengers,' in the Albuquerque desert, we shot New York there. And I was standing on a platform, nine feet high... and it was the rooftop of a skyscraper in New York. And it was all desert around me!
With Fincher, you can take chances and try things. And what happens is that any pretension and preparation you've done, all the square, intellectual work, you can't keep that up for 40 takes. It breaks down, and new things start popping up. This, for me, is the most exciting thing about film-making.
I don't know if I am a good cook, but I am a dedicated cook.
It's not in the tradition: not even the schoolkids have hot lunches in Norway. They bring a couple of sandwiches from home.
I said yes to 'Nymphomaniac' before it was written.
All directors are control freaks and very obsessive. I get the feeling that directors as kids, they all have had a childhood with not too much contact with other kids. They constructed their own reality and they continue to do it. It's a funny breed, directors.
If I ever lose a job because I've talked about being an atheist, then I don't want that job.
I was the eldest of five children, and although I never saw myself as any kind of leader, as the eldest, like it or not, you have some power inherent in that position.
I treat everyone as equals. I can't work if I'm not having fun, and I can't have fun if not everyone is happy.
I started acting as an amateur when I was a kid, but I wanted to become a diplomat. It was self-centered and weird, but I had this idea of going out in the world and solving conflicts and making the world a better place. But I kept on acting, and eventually, I just dropped out of school and continued acting.
I'm not lazy on set. I'm lazy in the rest of my life.
You don't know why you fall in love.
Man is such an amazing animal, and the possibilities are infinite for each person.
My parents were rather unconventional and did not accept rules unless they thought they were defendable. They were atheists when Sweden was a very Christian country.
I did a guest appearance on 'Entourage.' That was horrible, because I'm used to analysing the characters, working with all the details... and they said, 'No no no, walk and talk, walk and talk! It's energy energy energy!' - so it didn't quite suit me.
From my second son Gustav, I bought one of his complaints for 200 kroner. He was complaining that he was a middle child - he wasn't the beloved first child, and he wasn't the cute little youngest child. So I said, can I use that same wording in a film? And he said yeah. So I bought it from him.
The first time I saw Istvan Szabo's 'Mephisto,' I came out and I was in shock. I was shaking.
I don't feel ashamed or humiliated when I am naked, but I definitely feel it when I am playing games.
I am indeed a fan of John le Carre's novels.
Most of my acting in general is about what's going on in the head, and the lines are just something that comes out.
All male roles are written in a way where you just hide what's going on inside you, and all female roles are written in a way where they expose everything.
I'm not a signing or dancing man.
I'm so full of useless information; I'm the kind of person that collects useless information. I like to know everything!
I've got a lot of weaknesses. One of them is that I often get scared and tense when I'm working - and fear is one of the big threats to any good performance, because it closes you down and makes it harder for you to produce life in front of the camera.
I wanted to get the opportunity to do what actresses do: play the inside of a person.
There was a Russian director named Elem Klimov, who did his films during the communist days. They were constantly struggling with the authorities and to be allowed to express themselves. But he did one of the best war movies I've ever seen - it's called 'Come and See.'
