The idea of transformation - playing something I'm not - is the bit I enjoy most about acting. Mark Strong More Quotes by Mark Strong More Quotes From Mark Strong I'm very organized and tidy in my home life and I generally do something myself rather than farm it out to somebody else. I don't have an assistant or anything because I think I can do it myself. Mark Strong assistants home thinking You need to try to find a way to humanize your villains. Genuine villains, in real life, still have mothers and daughters and sisters, and they fall in love. They don't walk around with a big sign saying, "Bad guy," on their head. They think they're good guys. If you can play that, I think it makes it more interesting. Mark Strong falling-in-love daughter mother I loved making The Imitation Game and it's really gratifying to hear the audience's response to the character that I play. It was just a little thing that I did because I really liked the film and I liked Benedict [Cumberbatch] and I loved Morten's [director Morten Tyldum] previous film, Headhunters. For me, it was something I did thinking, "Wow, this is a lovely quality piece of work." Mark Strong games character thinking In the film industry you never really know if all the various ingredients will come together - sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. As an actor, you don't have much control over those things. It's a director's medium in that sense. All you can really do is minimise the risks of being involved in something that might not work and look for something that also suits you. Mark Strong risk together sometimes I've put my friends and family through the wringer over the years, I have to say, by doing unspeakable things to people, not the least of which was pulling out poor George Clooney's fingernails in Syriana. Mark Strong family-and-friends people years It's great to have the chance to play a character before he goes to the dark side, or the yellow side if you will. Normally, you don't get that opportunity. The narrative of a movie usually demands that you are that guy from the start. Mark Strong dark opportunity character My mother moved abroad when I was 11, my dad wasn't around from the time that I was a baby, so I was not the product of a family, but a product of observation - of watching what went on around me, of watching who I liked, what I didn't like, what I thought was good behaviour and what I thought was bad behaviour and tailoring myself accordingly. Mark Strong dad mother baby I just like voicing films in general. I do a lot of documentary work and it's a short hop really to narrating a character, especially if you're on film and you're there in a visual way. It sounds obvious, but voicing an animation really focuses you on the way that you're communicating through your voice. It's a very specific ability that you need to be able to have in order to pitch it just right. Mark Strong obvious film character The important bit for an actor is the actual shooting of it, because the minute the shoot ends, it's got nothing to do with you anymore. Mark Strong shooting actors important I loved making The Imitation Game and it's really gratifying to hear the audience's response to the character that I play. Mark Strong games play character In the past, if I didn't work, I didn't eat but now I feel I can not work and I won't starve. Mark Strong can-not feels past When you're making a psychological thriller, what you need to do is have an audience on shifting sand so they're never quite sure where they are. Mark Strong shifting never-quit needs I'm not a writer, inherently. Most of the writers I've met have stories they need to tell. I don't have that. I'm an interpreter. I like getting a script, seeing a character and thinking, "Oh, wow, I know what I can do with that." Mark Strong character needs thinking You sign for a sequel for everything these days, just in case, options. In the past, you avoided them like the plague because it meant somewhere down the road you couldn't take a job because you had to do a sequel. Now it's a feature of pretty much any feature you do. Mark Strong these-days jobs past I think it serves the purpose of the film if the premise is that you're unsure of me because you've only ever really seen me play villains. Mark Strong purpose play thinking Rowan Joffe is very specific. I mean, he wrote it as well and he has a very orderly writer's mind and the same applies to his directing. Mark Strong wells mind mean Rowan Joffe was on top of everything. He knew exactly how he wanted everything to be, right down to the fact when I made those telephone calls, I didn't do it afterwards in a studio. I think that's how he operates. He likes it to be as real and as clear as possible. Mark Strong likes real thinking The Peugeot is a very unthreatening car. Mark Strong car I have an enormous amount of respect for Nicole Kidman. She's just done so many great movies and she's been out there at the forefront of carrying films and being a movie star. On set, it really pays dividends because when you're performing with her, she knows exactly how to play it. You don't have to compensate for her in any way. Mark Strong stars done play I just invited close friends and family, the usual suspects whose opinion I value but who I know will enjoy the film [Before I Go To Sleep]. I don't know how difficult it is for them to suspend their disbelief because they obviously know me and what they're seeing is not me. Mark Strong family-and-friends usual sleep
