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" Paul Schofield said something like, 'If I'm not acting in a play, I don't really exist.' Those weren't the exact words, but he meant it's only when I'm acting in a play that I've got something to say about the world. And then why should I talk, when people can come to see it? "

Michael Gambon

People

Acting

Say

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" I learn the lines that JK Rowling or whoever writes them, and say them. "

" Television has dried up for my generation, so it's plays and films. "

Michael Gambon

Television

Plays

" I see film roles as lovely presents that come along now and again. I feel really lucky and say thank you very much. And if they fly me to L.A., I think, 'God, I must really be doing well.' I've worked with De Niro and Brando and Pacino, and that's made me feel very lucky. But the films have never meant a lot to me. "

Michael Gambon

Fly

God

" I'd love to be a comedian. I've done a lot, but always in the confines of plays. "

" There were certainly no spells at my school. More like a smack in the mouth. "

Michael Gambon

School

Spells

" I belong to quite a lot of learned societies. We collect firearms and discuss them at dinners and clubs and things. "

" There are more important ways of earning a living, aren't there? Like being a neurosurgeon. But some plays are very important, aren't they? "

Michael Gambon

Earning

Living

" I've had a private pilot's license for years and flown all round the U.K. and over to France. "

" I just hate the idea of being well known. I know that is almost impossible if you're an actor who has done okay, but I've always fought against it. "

" I can't remember any of the films I've done. You go from one to another, and they all blend in to a big mass. You remember the costumes because you remember how you felt - that Western I did with Kevin Costner where I wore the big hat and the two guns, I remember that. "

" I sometimes think the theatre is more demanding because it requires things you don't have in films, like it requires you to make the people in the front row believe you and not look an idiot to them while the people right at the back can hear you. "

" A child did approach me in a restaurant in Cornwall, but he thought I was Gandalf. "

" There were no spells at my school, just a smack in the mouth. "

" Oh yeah, I'd love to be a comedian. I've done a lot, but always in the confines of plays. "

" Certainly, I seem to need to do a play a year. I feel wrong if I haven't got one planned. "

" I live in fear of being a contented passenger. I'd rather get parts I can't play. "

" I'm an anorak. I've always been an obsessive collector of things. Richard Briers collects stamps. I collect cars and guns, which are much more expensive, and much more difficult to store. "

" I fell in love with Alan Ayckbourn the day I met him and, starting with 'The Norman Conquests,' went on to do eight plays with him. He tells you just what you want to know and has a brilliant way of solving problems. "

" I don't play classical guitar. But I do in my mind. I've got it on a stand. "

" I'm very flower-like. I love classical music. I go to ballet and I cry. There's nothing so beautiful. "

Michael Gambon

Cry

Beautiful

" I've played quite a lot of crooks and killers, and that's quite interesting. Then Dumbledore is the complete opposite, isn't he? He's a nice old man. "

Michael Gambon

Interesting

Old

" I want to be good all the time, so I feel anxious. But if you weren't like that, you'd be dead, wouldn't you? If you went out happy down the road, la la la. I've never been like that. I don't want to be. "

" When I was doing 'Tales from Hollywood' at the National, I was invited to dinner by the choreographer, Kenneth MacMillan. He told me I had the heart of a dancer and asked me if I'd like to come on at the end of 'Romeo and Juliet' as a friar. I said I'd love to, but sadly, MacMillan died shortly after. "

Michael Gambon

Love

Heart

" People should be shrouded in mystery. Especially actors. No, hang on, maybe actors should be blown up. "

Michael Gambon

Mystery

Should

" I've always tried to be an actor who... I just plod on and try to keep my mouth shut, mind my own business. I find the whole thing about people's lives... I can't understand it. I'm always astonished that people want to know anything about me. "

" I promise myself that I would go and do a play every year. "

" I like causing trouble. It's the teddy boy in me. I used to be a teddy boy. Feeling slightly inferior and wanting to cause a bit of bother and get some action going on in the room rather than get bored stiff. Does that make sense? "

Michael Gambon

Action

Bored

" I have been in five Harry Potter films and never read a 'Harry Potter' book. If you are an actor, all you have is the script you are given. If you read the book, you might get disappointed about what's been left out. "

" The theatre starts every night at half past seven, and I like the rhythm of going to the theatre, parking the car, going to the stage door; I've grown up with all of that. I'd love to do more theatre - I mean, I shouldn't be telling the world that I can't remember lines any more, but I find it more and more difficult, so I don't know. "

" I just play him as myself, I don't ease myself into any role really. I stick a beard on and play me. "