Hugo Weaving Quotations

I think I'm a bit of a dreamer. I don't like the reality of life to impinge much on my life.

I didn't get my licence because I wasn't allowed to. But I haven't had a seizure for a long time so I could, theoretically, get my licence. But I'm now just so used to not driving, I'm scared of what I'd do.

We're all outsiders in a way. We're all alone and can become very lonely

Being in the woods at night is a beautiful thing.

It's kind of chased away a few demons for me and, um, it's educated me a little bit more.

When you're a kid you have this sense of wonder and wholeness and a strong sense of your own identity.

People are more likely to pass me on the street without recognizing me, and that's good.

To me acting originally became an extension of game playing.

I don't think I'll ever escape the fact that I don't belong anywhere in particular. I've often dreamed about going back to Nigeria, but that's a very romantic notion. It's a hideous country to go to in reality.

I think I'm much less self confident today. I actually went through a quite painful period because of that thinking that I was completely hopeless. But I think that's something that we all go through at various times of our lives and it was quite a sustained thing with me.

As human beings, of course, we're all compromised and complex and contradictory and if a screenplay can express those contradictions within a character and if there's room for me to express them, that's a part I'd love to play, so much more than a character who is heroic and one-dimensional.

It's a real pleasure to go to work when you're in the most extraordinary surroundings, and working with people who are young and interested and creatively keen.

I used to have two double espressos a day. I gave that up, had headaches for five days but now I'm feeling great.

I've often dreamed about going back to Nigeria, but that's a very romantic notion. It's a hideous country to go to in reality.

As an actor, to do all sorts of different films is great.

Initially I probably didn't even call it acting, but dressing up or something. As a kid I think you fully imagine the world in which you want to inhabit, so you put some clothes on and just kind of freely imagine this world, and it's a total imaginary world.

I do feel like I'm not entirely an insider.

Film sets are constantly amusing because you really are creating something that is so very surreal, and I kind of like that.

I still, by and large, make low-budget Australian films.

I think often in film we limit our imaginations a little - well, quite a lot, actually things get quite formulaic.

I'm so used to Australian films not getting a release outside Australia.

As an actor, to play someone who's at war with himself, that's so interesting.

I kind of like the challenge of jumping into totally different spaces and styles and figuring out how to fit in.

If the script grabs me and appeals to me, I'm really very keen to work on it.

It's great to blow the image that people have of me out of the water.

I think when your image becomes so big that it's hard for a viewer to see a character, then I think you're in danger as an actor of being unable to perform what you should be doing.

I packed coffee once when I lived in Australia, and I just remember going around every day with coffee up my nose and in my ears.

I was on top of Keanu Reeves, he was on his back and I was on my trunk, and I was breathing down his neck for hours and hours. It was... very erotic.

Film has a tendency to be limiting in some way and it shouldn't be. It's a form that can be explored and changed.

There's nothing like being on a massive-budget film where you don't know anything, and there's a million people, and no one's communicating.

A lot of people have a fear of Shakespeare. Even actors do. People are like, "Oh, I won't go and see Shakespeare because the language is so hard," but it is. When you read it on the page, you go, "What?! What does that mean?!" If you go to a Shakespeare play and you've never been, you sit there and go, "I'm an idiot! I don't get it!"

I keep thinking I should get a phone, because everyone's got one and it becomes increasingly difficult to exist in a society where everyone else has moved ahead and you haven't.

I certainly don't advocate terrorism as a way of progressing and understanding people, nor do I believe labeling everything as a terrorist act is helpful either.

The biggest challenge for me, as an actor, is to be informed, prepared and focused, at the same time. I had to just keep on working, prepping, reading and imagining, all the way through, but the biggest challenge is always to let go of all that and just be open to others. That's what we do, as actor. We play with each other and we stimulate each other, and we have to be prepared to be stimulated by the other. That's always my big challenge.

I'm always trepidatious and excited about what I do. I wouldn't choose to do something, unless I am really excited about it.

If a film isn't really talking about who we are and what our psychologies are, then we're probably not that interested in it, actually.

In a real fight, there ain't no time and you've got to use your wits. If someone were threatening the life of my child, then I'd be a good fighter. If somebody just wanted to steal my wallet, well, maybe I wouldn't worry about it so much.

When you're battling against the minds of the studios and the money that can go into promoting larger budget films, it's very hard for a very small-budget Australian film to get a look in. You can get critically acclaimed and go to various film festivals around the world, but that doesn't necessarily mean the majority of people are going to hear about it.

One of the positive aspects from my point of view in terms of lifestyle doing film is that I can say "Well, I'm now going to have three months where I'm just going to hang out and be with the family".

Never send a human to do a machine's job

Both my parents are English and I was born in West Africa, and I moved around as a kid, lived in Bristol, lived in Buckinghamshire and Surrey as a kid, and then moved when I was 16.

I generally find an affinity with a lot of the people I play and I suppose if I didn't feel an affinity for them then they wouldn't be particularly good performances.

I guess I judge my films by how pleased I am with the work I do, so it's kind of on another level. If they do well at the box office, then that's great. Then I'm really pleased about that too.

Having agreed to play Elrond, I realized how much had to be worked out about this character: the idea of portraying someone who is immortal, for one thing; plus the fact he is noble, wise, powerful, good - and beautiful! I began to think that he was altogether impossible to play!

The great thing about stage is that you have a live audience.

Across the board, Australian films need to have a lot more money spent on selling them.

I think any role you need to play not so much transforms but I like to think of it as understanding the psychology of another character.