James Purefoy Quotes

I think there is a larger responsibility towards actors to make television what it should be in India. I would love to take on the challenge. Had it been for me, I would focus on good content.

There are only a few TV networks that really invest in production in the way that I think they should. HBO, obviously, is one of them.

I've been sort of spoiled on the TV end because HBO feels like a small institution making independent movies. There's respect for the director's contribution in a way that mainstream television doesn't really reflect, I don't think.

Perhaps there's a lot of quality television that's not right for the individual who needs questions answered in each episode, and perhaps reality television may be a better option. With the integrity of HBO and their drive to tell stories, it takes time to arrive at any sort of answers.

Peak TV has resulted in beautiful shows that have nothing in particular to tell us about humanity.

The more channels putting money into quality programming the better.

I think you know, to not open your mind to television is silly because there's so much good work happening on television.

I've come up in the scripted world, and I have wished there were more time slots for us to tell compelling scripted stories and not fill the airwaves with a lot of fluff and tabloid entertainment.

At HBO, they seem to be well-informed. They make what I think are really quite mature films.

Never underestimate the intelligence of the audience; make good programmes, and they will come.

The fact is that HBO is doing the kind of films and the kind of stories that the movie industry used to do. You look at a lot of the specialty sections of studios that have gone under... and there's no doubt in my mind why filmmakers and screenwriters and actors are ending up at a place like HBO. They do it better than anybody.

In my opinion, the BBC are one of the best producers of drama in the world, and it made me incredibly happy to get the opportunity to be one of the leading men in one of their productions.

I try to work on shows that I would want to watch.

I think we just need to have a demand for fresh and nuanced movies.

The BBC must never be all about ratings - or even mainly about ratings. In the past year, we have made a raft of terrific programmes which stand comparison with the best the BBC has ever done: 'Blue Planet,' 'Walking with Beasts,' 'Son of God,' 'Clocking Off,' 'The Way We Live Now,' 'Conspiracy,' 'Lost World.'

HBO churn out some unbelievable stuff. They really got me with things like 'Band of Brothers.' But you can't beat 'The Sopranos.'

Some of the most interesting questions needing to be asked today can best be asked on television, or on stage, and they can be wonderful, great dramas, but they won't necessarily be blockbusters.

I'm pretty excited about the state of TV these days. There's great opportunity for really complicated relationships, in a way that I don't really see as much in movies anymore.

They do very classy, sexy television in the U.S. - and they pay a lot more, so there's always that draw!

It has become a crusade of mine to demonstrate that TV need not be violent to be exciting.

Cable TV has become where the best actors, writers and directors have gone to work because they are allowed to do character-driven stories.

I barely watch TV apart from the news. Most of it is rubbish. There's all this reality nonsense and dross. I think there's a market for a well-produced, well-written melodrama like 'Dallas.' It's pure entertainment.

I'm just looking for the best story being told by the best people and the best part that I can find. If those things add up, I want to be a part of it whether it's a studio film or, more likely in that instance, an independent film.

Good television people have a sense of what television people relate to.

You could have the biggest screen, you could have the clearest screen. But if there is not great content on this thing, that big-screen TV is not a huge value to you, even though it has the best picture on the planet.