RANDEEP HOODA

It is easy to bare your body, but it is difficult to bare your soul. What works for me is that I am not a city-raised boy with city-raised sensibilities. I can play the vulnerable tough man, the guy with a gun in his hand, tears in his eyes, fire in his heart, innocence in him, and in his arms a woman he loves.

My family is my biggest critic. Since they come from a non-filmi background, they give me an audience's point of view. They have been very supportive of me.

I find solace in animals. I have got a stray dog at home called Candy. I picked it up while I was waiting at the airport one day. I always wanted to have a 'macho' dog but got this sweet little thing instead.

Theatre gives you wings as an actor.

Over the years, I have realized that there's more to a film's fate than just good acting and a solid script. It needs to be marketed well. It's the package that sells - the songs, action, actors, etc.

Love can never make you weak, and love is not restricted to opposite sex. I love my parents, I love my animals, and I love my profession.

In all of us, there is a struggle between the good and the bad. It makes it more palpable and real to play such people as an actor.

I used to run away from school to my village. But later, I went to the U.S. for studies and lost touch.

February days are a marketing gimmick; love happens every day.

Theatre is great, but we don't live in an idealistic world, and we have to pay our bills.

I am not an insecure actor, and this reflects in the films I have done. Yes, there was a phase when I was adamant on solo hero roles, but that is over now.

It's too bad I'm not a flirt. When I'm on the sets, I'm too busy working on my scenes to look at the ladies.

The hero is changing in Bollywood, and I approach a hero's role like a character by focusing on its weaknesses. I feel the weaknesses of a character make them more alive, relatable, and human.

There is no life without sport and no sport without competition.

I give two hoots about being typecast. It's not in my hands.

A movie is a mass consumption product. I have got no delusions about being niche. I don't want to be niche. Though in the earlier part of my career I was into niche cinema, doing independent films - and I do have a revolutionary bent of mind - but you cannot make a change from outside; you have to be a part of it.

I try to keep myself as normal as possible. Stardom is transient. People forget you after a while.

I knew that I wanted to be an actor; how to go about it was the question. I went to Australia for my studies; from there I told my dad that I also want to do a course in performing arts, but my father refused. So I completed my studies and came back. But I kept poking him, saying that acting is something that I want to do.

A few years ago, when I had no work and started believing that films weren't a viable career, I thought of finding another job. I started training and riding horses and got consumed by that. It was a boon in disguise.

Stardom happens - you can't plan it - it's destiny, and you shouldn't stand between you and your destiny. I'm letting my destiny play its part, and I go by my gut feeling. If I like my role, I say yes; if I don't, I just refuse, as simple as that.

I'm going to be acting all my life. But, while doing that, I will try to avoid the trappings of fame.

I never think about what others are doing. I do a film for myself, not others.

Having learnt my basics in theatre, I always feel film is a collaborative effort. If you do your part well and help the person in front of you in realising his or her potential, the film invariably comes out good.

I think I'm the only professional horse rider from the movie industry. Strangely, I've seen no men from the industry at equestrian events. Though I've seen some ladies like Diya Mirza and Lara Dutta at the race course. Women, by the way, make superior horse riders.

When we are younger, we say a lot of things without often believing in them. The thoughts within you are much more important, and so often, one can't completely describe what one feels. As we grow older, we realize that there is more to love than what is expressed in the conventional sense of the terms.