John Hurt

Everyone I've ever played has been flawed.

— John Hurt

I stopped asking a long time ago, "why would you want me to play that?" I'm an actor. That's what I do.

— John Hurt

I don't like it when people shout on stage without any particular reason. It carries no weight.

— John Hurt

With [Fred] Zinnemann I did A Man For All Seasons. He was my screen godfather. I'm happy to say he was.

— John Hurt

Society is constantly recalibrating, redefining what it considers to be moral and immoral.

— John Hurt

Pretending to be other people is my game and that to me is the essence of the whole business of acting.

— John Hurt

I've never felt that anger is a very powerful emotion.

— John Hurt

I am really the victim of other people's imagination.

— John Hurt

I never had any ambition to be a star, or whatever it is called, and I'm still embarrassed at the word.

— John Hurt

When you're really working well with a director then you can be as outrageous as you like and so can he. And…

— John Hurt

It's a great relief to feel that you're working with someone rather than for someone. You don't feel that you're being tested,…

— John Hurt

I'm somewhat old-fashioned, and I still talk about playing a part. I don't talk about my work - 'I've seen some of…

— John Hurt

It would be difficult to have any unfulfilled ambitions because I don't have any ambitions. I've never been that kind of performer.

— John Hurt

It's amazing how quickly human beings adapt, isn't it? It was such a great crew, and David [Lynch] was wonderful to work…

— John Hurt

The big problem with literature is people tend to take the dialogue from the book, forgetting that everything that surrounds it is…

— John Hurt

I think, you have to forget about intellect, to a degree. Intuition is very important when you're working with a lens, I…

— John Hurt

My mother's father drank and her mother was an unhappy, neurotic woman, and I think she has lived all her life afraid…

— John Hurt

I'm not interested in awards. I never have been. I don't think they are important. Don't get me wrong, if somebody gives…

— John Hurt

In anything really, it's finding the reality. You can't be 'real,' but you can create a reality. And that created reality is…

— John Hurt

By the time I came to do the final ones [Harry Potter's film], I was working on something that was massively successful.…

— John Hurt

I think one of the things that is important, for me, though a lot of people would disagree with me, is that…

— John Hurt

You can't lose your concentration at all. And there are times when you're on the stage, and you've got silence, which is…

— John Hurt

Be true to what you want to say, or whatever style it is that you've chosen or genre you've chosen. Do it…

— John Hurt

I've never changed the way I live. I still walk the streets; I don't give a damn. And everyone's very nice to…

— John Hurt

I'm essentially the result of other people's imagination. And that's fine. Because of other people's imagination, I've played parts I would never…

— John Hurt

There are certain people that when they ask you to do a film, you just say, "Where and when?"

— John Hurt

I'm not accustomed to doing films without seeing the script.

— John Hurt

It's quite a dangerous career move to go wilfully on making films that may not find a distributor.

— John Hurt

I have lots of favourite memories but I can't say that I have a favourite film.

— John Hurt

My surname certainly suggests a man whose destiny has always been injury.

— John Hurt

I was completely crazy and mad when I was young. I was absolutely in love with the dissolute.

— John Hurt

I don't care about the length of anything I play, as long as it's a good character.

— John Hurt

One thing that is likely to make you lose touch is if you keep in touch with the past too much.

— John Hurt

I'd love to be one of those people who, whenever you see them, you feel pleased.

— John Hurt

I've never known what I've wanted to do. I've never planned anything in my life.

— John Hurt

Really, I'm only alive out of curiosity. I'm very curious about where we're all marching.

— John Hurt

Each day, as you get older, there is a new perspective on life. It's a progression of some sort.

— John Hurt

I've been incredibly lucky with the directors I've worked with.

— John Hurt

'The Naked Civil Servant' was as important for me as 'Easy Rider' was for Jack Nicholson. No question.

— John Hurt

I've done all sorts of children's things before, but none as big as 'Harry Potter.'

— John Hurt