Anjelica Huston and Kelly MacDonald are both really special. Anjelica has such a fresh point of view about acting and doesn't seem jaded at all. She seems more like a student and yet she is veteran actor who really brings it.
When I was playing Gandalf, I didn't think, 'Oh my dear, I'm playing a 7,000 year old wizard,' because I've never met one, and I don't know what they're like.
I think acting really helps as a director. It's just no question, because you totally understand the acting process.
With every character that I've ever played, I felt like I just understood the way that she thought and how she was.
There seems to be a theme running through the women I play. They take their circumstances and try to make the best of them.
I think Nat's an amazing actor... He understands things about acting that most people don't.
I think all my favorite directors have acted. They understand how an actor thinks.
The characters I've portrayed may outwardly be quite different from one another, but I've found that they're also intrinsically linked.
The thing as an actor is you get a sense of what a show is like the minute you walk on the set.
I really loved working with Michael Caine. He's a really skilled and experienced actor. I learn something from everybody, but when you work with somebody like that, you actually learn things you can put in your toolbox, things about craft. Not necessarily life lessons, but actual things he knows that you can pick up.
