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Mark Strong

Mark Strong Quotes

Film actor

Mark Strong, born on August 5, 1963, in London, England, is a renowned British actor with a diverse career in film and television. Known for his exceptional acting skills and versatile roles, he has made a significant impact in the entertainment industry.

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All Thinking Film Character Ifs Knows Play Bits Going To Sleep Next Scripts

Famous Mark Strong Quotes

“I had this extraordinarily bizarre moment when, two Fridays ago, my missus gave birth to our second child at 11am and by the same time the following day I was sitting around a table with Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio in Rabat in Morocco, rehearsing a scene we were going to shoot the next day.”

Children Two Moments Next Birth Scene Sitting Tables Following Next Day Bizarre Friday Sitting Around Leonardo Rehearsing Morocco Sitting Around A Table

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Ifs Feels I Can Past Can Not

Author:Mark Strong

“The idea of transformation - playing something I'm not - is the bit I enjoy most about acting.”

Ideas Bits Enjoy Acting Transformation

Author:Mark Strong

“Because I had children relatively late - in my 40s rather than in my 20s - it wasn't anything I ever knew that I would do. It kind of happened to me: I met the right woman and we had children. It was a revelation because it suddenly makes me realize "Oh, I get it. Now I know what to do with the rest of my life."”

Knows Kind Children Realizing Happened Mets Late Revelations

Author:Mark Strong

“If you think about Shakespeare, you remember Richard III and Macbeth before you remember Ferdinand, whose role is just to fall in love and be a bit of a wimp. I love the baddies. More important, though, is making the baddies somehow, weirdly, understood.”

Ifs Thinking Important Remember Fall Bits Roles Understood Falling In Love Wimps Baddies

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Ifs Play Character Guy Opportunity Sides Dark Chance Demand Narrative Yellow That Guy Dark Side

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Mother Products Baby Dad Behavior Moved My Dad Observation Bad Behavior Good Behavior

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Jobs Past Cases These Days Features Plague Avoided Down The Road Sequels Somewhere Down The Road

Author:Mark Strong

“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."”

Thinking Knows Needs I Can Character Stories Can Do Seeing Mets Scripts Wow Interpreter

Author:Mark Strong

“Part of me was fascinated by the idea that I would only get next week's episode a week in advance and wouldn't actually know where I was going with it, until the script landed on my mat. But, part of me wanted to know what was going to happen.”

Knows Ideas Happens Wanted Next Week Scripts Fascinated Episodes Next Week

Author:Mark Strong

“I've played lots of villains in my time and I think the reason they've been so successful is that they're not two-dimensional. They're not black and white. That's the gig.”

Thinking Two Reason Black White Successful My Time Villain Black And White Gigs

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Ifs Thinking Way Needs Trying Stills Real Play Bigs Mother Guy Fall Walks Interesting Daughter Falling In Love Real Life Genuine Villain Bad Guys Good Guy Mother And Daughter Sign Sayings

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Needs Audience Psychological Sand Never Quit Shifting Thrillers Psychological Thrillers Shifting Sand

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

People Years Poor My Friends Pulling Family And Friends Unspeakable Fingernails

Author:Mark Strong

“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."”

Thinking Littles Play Character Film Games Quality Audience Pieces Directors Response Lovely Little Things Wow Imitation

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Important Ends Actors Bits Minutes Shooting

Author:Mark Strong

“The Secret Service I'm really excited about because Matthew Vaughn directed it. I've done a couple of movies with him - Stardust, which is one of my favorite films, and Kick-Ass, which is just a crazy, wonderful movie.”

Done Film Secret Wonderful Crazy Couple My Favorite Excited Ass Kicks Matthew Stardust Kick Ass Secret Service

Author:Mark Strong

“I got sent the script [ Before I Go To Sleep] as usually happens and you have a little look. I know it's a bit of a cliché, but it was absolutely a page turner. I mean, I wanted to find out what happened next.”

Knows Looks Mean Littles Happens Wanted Next Bits Sleep Happened Pages Scripts Going To Sleep Turner

Author:Mark Strong

“[Before I Go To Sleep] script was a great journey with all the twists and turns that were kind of unexpected. I had to finish the script, and I thought if we can emulate this in the film, it's going to be a really good film.”

Ifs Kind Film Turns Sleep Journey Scripts Unexpected Twists Going To Sleep Emulate Good Films Twists And Turns Great Journeys

Author:Mark Strong

“I'm sure part of the baggage that I bring having played a lot of villains is also pertinent to the movie [Before I Go To Sleep], because I'm sure people look at me and think, "Oh, I'm not sure I trust him or not."”

People Thinking Looks Sleep Not Sure Villain Look At Me Going To Sleep Baggage Pertinent

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Ifs Thinking Play Film Purpose Villain Premises Unsure

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Mind Wells Mean Orderly

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Thinking Made Real Facts Wanted Clear Studios Likes Telephones

Author:Mark Strong

“The Peugeot is a very unthreatening car.”

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Knows Way Done Play Film Stars Pay Amount Enormous Performing Movie Star Dividends Nicole

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Knows Film Values Enjoy Difficult Sleep Opinion Know How Seeing Suspects Usual Know Me Family And Friends Invited Disbelief Going To Sleep Close Friends

Author:Mark Strong

“Interestingly, this character [Doctor Nash] is probably closer to me than somebody like the evil Sir Godfrey in Robin Hood or Lord Blackwood who wants to take over the world in Sherlock Holmes. This is a character that's English, he's based in London, and so it's closer to me than a lot of stuff I've been doing recently.”

World Want Character Evil Stuff Lord Doctors London Hood Holmes Robins Robin Hood

Author:Mark Strong

“I loved making The Imitation Game and it's really gratifying to hear the audience's response to the character that I play.”

Play Character Games Audience Response Imitation

Author:Mark Strong

“In the movie, you have to decide as an actor how you are going to give a character presence. You can't really move, walk, and talk like yourself. This creates something so you have to find something "other".”

Giving Character Moving Actors Walks Like You Like Yourself

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Character Film Ability Obvious Communicate Animation

Author:Mark Strong

“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.”

Sometimes Together Film Risk Various

Author: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.”

Thinking I Can Home Can Do Organized Farms Assistants I Can Do It Tidy Home Life

Author:Mark Strong

“All these portrayals we see of knights fighting must be absolute rubbish because knights in armour could literally have only had two or three blows and then they'd have had to sit down to have a cup of tea.”

Two Fighting Three Absolutes Blow Cups Tea Knights Rubbish Cups Of Tea Armour Portrayal

Author:Mark Strong

“And I think in your 40s, you land a little bit, physically and mentally, you arrive at a place where you feel you've learned some stuff. Having children at that point meant I had something very useful to do for the next 20 years.”

Thinking Feels Years Children Littles Next Stuff Bits Land Little Bit Having Children

Author:Mark Strong

About the Author

Born: August 5, 1963
Died: 1946
Known for: Film actor
Quotes: 34

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