"While Zack is very stylized; Tarsem is very artistic. Not to say Zack isn't artistic ... OK, watching that HDTV (motions to a screen in the room), which is a masterwork in itself and seeing that painting on the wall, which is a masterwork in itself — they are both beautiful, they both affect you, and they are so entirely different. Like Zack is the TV and Tarsem the painting." (source)
[on the difficulty of him waching Immortals innocently] "One, I'm being very critical about my own performance, so very focused on that, and Two, I'm feeling what (his character is) feeling, as opposed to seeing the broad picture and feeling what the movie is intending me to feel. And with Tarsem's spectacular visuals and a great score, it just enhances that, coupled with being hypercritical of myself and disappointed: 'Damn, I should have done this!' or 'That was a good choice; I'm glad that happened.'" (source)
"I always wanted to tell stories like this (i.e. Immortals & MoS). I don't think I was expecting anything like this (i.e. changing his appearance many times via hard training), but I just wanted to get into the industry and tell stories, and I'm very glad I've been able to do that." (source)
[on almost quitting acting out of frustration] "There was definitely a moment where I thought this was a waste of my time. You can work your entire life as an actor, trying to develop and build a career. It's a very thankless job and task... I went through a phase where I was getting wonderful feedback for everything I did, but not getting the job because I wasn't a name ... It just wasn't happening. I was getting lots of feedback: 'Oh, loved you, fantastic performance, the director loved you, but sorry, no.' And I started to throw my hands up in the air and thought, 'There's just no winning. It's not going to happen because I'm doing everything right, but I'm not getting the results.' So I was considering going back to school, finishing my last year of school, and then joining the Armed Forces." (source)
[on being 2nd runner up for James Bond] "I thought, 'Oh, that's good. Something's happening. I've achieved some level of recognition. Someone has noticed me.' That gave me some reinforcement, then I got The Tudors." (source)
[on the career opportunities now coming his way] "It's not intimidating at all. It's a wonderful experience. You get to be around people who have proven to be great at their craft and to learn from them. It's the chance to work with great actors ... I grasp it with both hands." (source)
[on being between projects] "Things are pretty crazy right now. And I'm loving it." (source)
[on being cast 2nd for James Bond] "I'll take that silver any day of the week!" (source)
"In this business, 99% of the time you hear 'no'. You have to put your head down and just deal. But when you do hear the response you want, it's a wonderful thing." (source)
"As an actor, when you get rejected and rejected, you start to wonder if you've got the goods. People are telling me that I'm a good actor. They're saying I'm good in the room during the audition, but I'm not getting the (expletive) jobs. Either someone is lying or this industry is really messed up. I think it's a combination of the two." (source)
[about loosing Superman Returns] "It's actually been proven that just because I didn't get Superman then doesn't mean that I can't get Superman now. You can't let it get you down. You've got to look at the positives. I got to meet with Warner Bros. and everyone there. It's beneficial, really." (source)
"The funny thing is, that the roles I almost had are the ones that kept me going. Because almost getting Bond or the previous Superman were a sign, to me, that I should keep on pluggin'. And I was right. It's turning into a GREAT year." (source)
[on his dream part] "I've always had a soft spot for Alexander the Great. It'll be years before anybody tries that again. But I'll keep my legs in shape for when they do!" (source)
"It's quite funny when people assume I am picking things from a well of jobs. It's not that way." (source)
[on having interest in playing Bond] "Of course! That's the other one to get." (source)
"How do I prepare for a role? It's the same way I prepare for any job and for anything I do in any walk of life. If you're going to do it, do it properly and do it with everything you've got, otherwise go home and that was the polite version of what I was going to say. Commit and enjoy, no matter how difficult it is you can always find something in it which is enjoyable. I knew it was going to be physically taxing going in and I took that as an opportunity to enjoy getting in to great shape. To take that into my life after the fact. The pain only lasts for a short while but the benefits you gain during pain will last you forever." (source)
[on changing his physique for different roles] "I finished with Immortals, then I got a job on Cold Light of Day where the director said 'I need you to look like a normal person.' So no more press ups, no more sit ups, eat drink and be merry and I did, right up until I looked into the mirror again and I was eating and drinking again but I certainly wasn't merry. I then went onto Superman and it was obvious how they wanted me to look. It's in comic books around the world. It was going to be a weight-based training regime and it was obvious from the comics that I needed to put on a good size." (source)
"To play a hero effectively, I think you have to depend entirely on the flaws and doubts of that hero because in modern and past society, heroes are prevalent and it's sort of become a little boring to be 'too good', too great at everything you do. So, to focus on all the things which make life so difficult for that individual, makes them more heroic when they overcome them and overcome everything else bearing down on them. But, the personal difficulties, faults and problems they have, are, I think what make heroes interesting." (source)
[on acting an emotional scene vs. a fight choreography] "When you're acting, you're not thinking about how your face is moving and what faces you're pulling. You're emoting. And when you are doing fight choreography, it's so much about precision and exact movements that the two become very separate entities. An acting scene can take a day. A fight scene can take up to two weeks. You're still emoting as an actor but it's a dance. It's a planned, precise thing." (source)
[on Immortals' experience helping him with MoS] "Any kind of acting experience under your belt is great for the next job and secondly, the physical experience because Superman is physically extraordinarily taxing and I've completely changed my body shape for it. So having worked so hard on Immortals, it mentally prepared me for the work on Superman." (source)
[on MoS audience's expectation pressure] "Yeah, you have to (block it out), especially when people want to express their opinions of all sorts. Everyone is entitled to it. But you never know where an opinion is coming from or why it's coming in such a way and sometimes it can affect you and so you have to be capable to taking everything with a pinch of salt because the nice stuff is nice. It's like training, when you're training really, really hard and you're trying to achieve a certain look for your body, you look in the mirror and you ignore the good stuff because that's taken care of, it's only the stuff you haven't quite gotten yet which is what you're panicking about. And the same goes for any kind of internet response or public response to a performance. It's one negative comment which will really stick with you so you really do have to block it out. You have to do the best you can do without that external influence because you don't know how constructive it is. (source)
[on muscles and costume conveying the sense that he is the hero] "That comes down to the performer as well. There's more than just the physicality to roles like Theseus or playing Supes. There's something far deeper. Anyone who is willing to put the work in and have that willpower can be in that kind of physical shape, but the question is do they give off that something else that makes them different or special? That's up to a performer to work out how to give people that impression. That's something different. Physicality helps, but there's something else; there's a way that you make people feel that physicality can enhance but not necessarily be the cause of." (source)
"I don't go to the gym every day, but I'll tend to blast it for a couple of weeks before a shirtless scene." (2008, source)
[on him looking for a change from big-hero roles] "Oh, very much so. These larger than life characters and roles are a lot of fun to do, and I do enjoy playing them, but I like to tell stories in other roles as well. It's a matter of just finding the right script. I certainly don't want to only show one facet of my ability. I want to show people I can tell stories in a non-action capacity as well. It's finding the correct scripts, seeing what's out there, and biding my time." (source)
[on the easiness of finding good scripts the last few years] "No, not necessarily in the last few years. Ever since I got the Superman role, I think I'm going to start getting more choice of scripts, but in the past it was just a matter of trying to find the script and trying to get the job, and you don't know if you'll get the job. There's a bit more of a name attached to me now and hopefully that will help me get my foot in the door more often, and I'll have more of a choice than I have had in the past." (source)
[on being Stephenie Meyer's ideal Edward Cullen in Twilight] "I'm flattered! It's enormously flattering. If a writer were to say that I am the writer's ideal choice, that's enormously flattering. I hope that I will be able to continue to perform in a way that will have other people saying it." (source)
[on regretting not going into Egyptology] "No — at this stage, I'm very happy that I stuck to my chosen path and kept to it, because things are looking good! There were certainly times in the past, long periods of time, when things were going terribly and I had no work. I was scrambling for money, just trying to make ends meet. Badly in debt. But I made my decision back then and I'm glad I stuck to it. As much as I do have a fascination with ancient history, and with history in general, I love the story that history is, it's just one of those things which I was planning on doing — something like Egyptology — at university. Going through university on a scholarship and then going to join the armed forces in the U.K. History was just a filler for the time being." (source)
[on sticking to acting proven a wise choice] "Yeah. It was a combination of a lot of hard work and some good choices… and, of course, some bad ones which I got away with. And ultimately, some very good fortune. If it hadn't been for certain people liking me and doing casting in certain areas, or me being the right age for stuff, I wouldn't be where I am today. So it's one of those things. I'm lucky that things all came together as they have done so far." (source)
[on becoming the next Hollywood action pin-up] "I'm playing a role, I'm in the role and hopefully whatever messages people will take are their own. People will interpret it however they want. I'm certainly not worried about being objectified." (source)
"Any experience on an acting job is a good experience because you can take it to the next one. The physical experience (of Immortals) was wonderful because it prepped me for future projects. It also prepped me emotionally and mentally." (source)
"A lot of (the acting) is very instinctual as well. A lot of it happens as it happens in the moment. Often you go with what you are feeling cause you can trust that in the moment." (source)
[on working with Mickey Rourke being intense] Yeah. Working with any actor who has that kind of experience is good cause you can learn as much as you possibly can from them. From him I learned that there is a certain gravitas you can have by doing the smallest of things. Things which you do in everyday life. In acting sometimes you're concentrating so hard that you don't end up doing the everyday natural things. Mickey is pretty good at that." (source)
[on working with Mickey Rourke] "It was really an opportunity to see someone who's got years of acting experience under their belt, and I have a chance to learn from them. Sit back and watch. I think that often can be the best way of learning stuff, you watch them and see how things go." (source)
[on moving from smaller to bigger projects] "There really is no difference, we're still doing the job. You still get to work at a horrible time in the morning. It's dark when you get to work and its dark when you leave work and you're tired and hungry. It's like any job. The very fact that there is more public attention doesn't make a difference. The only thing I can say is that there might be more money in the job so there's more luxuries here or there. Because it's a bigger job it doesn't make it any different and it shouldn't either." (source)
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