Timothy Dalton Quotes

I always wanted to make a 'James Bond' film, and they only seemed to hire British directors, and I'd made 'Swingers' - they were never going to hire me for a 'James Bond' film off 'Swingers.'

One would think that it would be very easy, with an iconic character like James Bond, to keep making the films, but it hasn't been. But, it sure has been entertaining and rewarding.

Whenever you do anything with Bond, you've got Cubby Broccoli and Sean Connery looking over your shoulder.

People recognize me on the street for all kinds of different things that I've done. 'That Thing You Do' remains to be my favorite film in which I played my favorite character. That role is the one that I'm most recognized for.

As a kid, you either wanted to play Bond or a Bond villain. Ask any of my friends in entertainment, whether they are actors or writers or producers or directors, and they will tell you that they'd love to play a Bond baddie. I can go anywhere in the world and I am known; it put me on the international map.

I've made a lot of stupid action films in my life but I like stupid action films and am kind of proud of them.

Honestly, not being evasive, but the great thing about Bond is that I have fifty years of movies - 23 movies and all the Ian Fleming novels and short stories, all of which are fodder. And when I'm working on the new Bond, I'm constantly going back to Fleming and the other movies - what are the bits and pieces, what are the resonances?

I don't think anyone except the few people who have played James Bond can tell you how strange and special it is and how much your life changes.

I grew up on Bond, and it is part of my culture, especially in Britain. Just to be known as a Bond girl is an incredible thing for me, because some of my favorite actresses have been Bond girls, like Diana Rigg and Honor Blackman, and they have continued to work and be brilliant. I am honored and flattered to be called that, even though I don't really think my character is Bond-girly, but I'm still going to be labeled as a Bond girl, which is completely brilliant.

The media was always so focused on the money a movie makes. But I was in Times Square, and a bunch of Japanese tourists looked at me and started shouting, 'Toula!' I loved it. It's these tiny moments of connection that register with me the most and always have.

The 'Bourne' films totally reimagined and elevated the action genre.

Sometimes James Bond movies drive me crazy. They're fun to watch, but they don't have anything to do at all with what intelligence officers really do.

I felt I knew Lugosi. Like him, I had worked for good directors and terrible directors.

A James Bond film can be artistically fulfilling. Absolutely it can. It can be complex, and it can be interesting. I consider Bond movies to be an extension of popular theatre, a kind of modern mythology. You see the same sort of action in 'Punch and Judy' or in the folk theatre of various cultures, like 'Grand Guignol.'

Ask Bond-watchers of a certain age about the six actors who have slipped into Bond's Savile Row suits in the Broccoli franchise, and they might say it's really Connery and five other guys - since he, being first and being Sean, stamped the role with his sulfurous masculinity.

Germans aren't action fans. The only kind of action that really works is 'Bond.'

I'm used to the fact that the world views movie actors as personalities. I'm in the extremely fortunate position of making a living at something I'm passionate about. It's all about choices. By the nature of what I do, I make a choice. I invite them in.

Nobody knew me. They just knew that I was the guy from 'Mission: Impossible.'

I wouldn't want to be a James Bond.

See, it's kind of like James Bond. There's a new James Bond every couple of years. Maybe I can do the new 'MacGyver' and put my own twist on it.

When you have films like 'Bourne' that succeed, not only does it beget sequels, but it begets people taking chances.

Everyone wants me to do the comedy thing. But I always wanted to do action adventure. I want to be a guy like 007 who fights against the establishment. If they can make Bruce Willis believable as an action hero, I could do it, too.

I've always loved 'Bond.' There were two franchises that I would always have dropped everything to do as a director. 'Bond' was one; 'Star Wars' was other.

What I've appreciated about the 'Bond' films is there's always been a subtle social relevance to them. They've always commented on the times.

'Skyfall' was marvellous, the best Bond film ever made.