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" My first arrival in India was memorable - landing at Delhi airport at 2 A.M. to start filming 'The Jewel in the Crown' in the Eighties. The man who was supposed to pick me up wasn't there, so I spent a very uncomfortable three hours phoning around hotels to find out where I was supposed to be. It was a major culture shock, but I adored India. "

Tim Pigott-Smith

Three

Crown

" Hollywood's best producers and directors are in film, not TV. "

" I didn't like my first primary school in Leicester very much. As I was going home on my tricycle one day, I said, 'There's no reading, no writing and no arithmetic - it's really boring!' So I was sent to St John the Baptist Church of England Primary. "

" I especially like the Padstow area and the south coast near Portloe. It's lovely, though I do wish it was a bit closer to London. "

Tim Pigott-Smith

London

Lovely

" The worst nickname I ever had was Tim Pig-ears-Smith. I had big ears. When I was younger, it was more pronounced. So I felt huge sympathy towards Prince Charles over that. "

Tim Pigott-Smith

Over

Worst

" Fame changed my life completely because, for a while, I was in a position to choose what I did. I miss that aspect. But I always felt uncomfortable with it. "

" People wrote about me and started calling me a star, and I just hated it. There are aspects of it that are great - I mean, you can ring up any restaurant and get in, can't you. "

Tim Pigott-Smith

People

Great

" You had to be there at the time to understand the wild creative energy of the Fab Four, and this contains forays into Indian music as well as classics such as 'When I'm Sixty-Four.' "

" For sheer excitement, a weekend in New York is unbeatable. Arrive on Friday morning, leave on Monday night, and don't worry about jet lag - just buzz for four days. "

" I used to think the actor's job was immersing himself completely in another personality. "

" American writers reduce the length of time devoted to exposition and character development. "

" There is something about the way I photograph. People often say, 'Are you cross with me?' My eyes can look sort of... like a wall. "

Tim Pigott-Smith

You

Say

" When I was 16, we moved to live in Stratford-Upon-Avon. That was the year of Paul Scofield's 'Lear.' I think he is still widely perceived as the only actor who has got his flag at the top of the mountain. "

" After a West End run, in which I was promoted to Laertes, I joined the RSC in 1972. I had fulfilled my dream. "

" My memory is quite good, except when I'm off stage. "

" When I have a good performance, I'm wrecked at the end of it. I feel completely empty, and tears are pouring down my face - I'm just gone. "

" Perhaps it's an accident of nationality, but the English treasure subtlety and appreciate not having everything spelled out for them, while Americans want everything made apparent. "

" My wife is a fantastic traveller. She's good fun and very optimistic. Even if things get bad, she's good at seeing the light side. "

" You never learn to act in front of a camera. You never learn anything in front of a camera. But you learn to act in a rehearsal room with a good play and a good cast and a good director. "

" In television, I was first cast as a cavalry officer because of my name. "

" Of course there is a danger of typecasting, and since 'Jewel in the Crown' appeared, I have had countless offers to play sadistic policemen and middle-class misfits. "

" You can't keep a hero down, can you? "

" Performing King Charles in Mike Bartlett's astonishing play in London and New York has been one of the high points of my career. "

" I never wanted to do film. I don't have the right face, and I don't like stardom. I like the fact that I have this wonderful thing that gives you status, but I'm most interested in doing decent work. "

" I love Stevie Wonder for his sense of rapture in the music. He can swing through a zappy tune, lift your heart, or drift into a sad ballad with consummate ease. "

" Occasionally, there are programmes - like 'The Office' or 'Gavin and Stacey,' perhaps - where you get the feeling everybody's seen it. "

Tim Pigott-Smith

Seen

Feeling

" Drama at Bristol was an academic course: you were judged on your A-levels, and there were no auditions. I did a BA General degree. "

" My parents were fantastic. I was an only child, so I had a lot of love and too much attention. I don't think I was spoilt. My mother was quite a disciplinarian, but I did have a lot of attention and quite a lot of pressure to do well at whatever I was doing. "

" If you can't educate your citizens and you can't keep them healthy, you can't begin to be a society. "

" I was really uncomfortable with fame. I mean, it's lovely and flattering, and you enjoy all the razzmatazz and being flown around, but when people suddenly call you a star, you think, 'I'm not a star, I'm just playing a star role.' "