Ben Whishaw
Ben Whishaw
Benjamin John "Ben" Whishawis an English actor. He is known for his stage role as Hamlet; his roles in the television series Nathan Barley, Criminal Justice, The Hour and London Spy; and film roles including Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, I'm Not There, Bright Star, Brideshead Revisited, Cloud Atlas, The Lobster, Suffragetteand The Danish Girl. He has also played the role of Q in the James Bond films starting with Skyfall, and was the voice of Paddington Bear in...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth14 October 1980
CityClifton, England
I am a typical Libran. I tend to see two sides of everything.
I don't think I am especially interested in celebrities, but I love talking about what is going on with people and why they do what they do.
I don't have any ambition to make lots of money or win an Oscar or anything like that. It's not about that for me.
I don't think anyone can walk through the world in a state of vulnerability all the time, can they?
I wish that the arts were better supported, and you can't say that enough times, but I also believe that whatever happens, artists will keep going.
What I notice about people who are gifted in filmmaking is that they're great thinkers. They engage with big ideas and they engage with people.
I was quite a shy child - not chronically, but I tended to blend into the background.
I love films. I love music. I love poetry and stories. All of that I feel I sort of get very excited and fed by.
When you have a character to work with, you carry them around in a strange way - they make you look at the world in a different way.
I would have loved to have been a painter or a sculptor. I'm still fascinated by those things.
I find it really hard to say anything coherent or interesting about the work I do.
As an actor, you have total rights to privacy and mystery, whatever your sexuality, whatever you do. I don't see why that has to be something you discuss openly because you do something in the public eye. I have no understanding of why we turn actors into celebrities.
I don’t think that actors are necessarily any more uncomfortable in their skin than anyone else. I suppose I feel more comfortable in my skin now, but you’re always playing a character, aren’t you? You tell different versions of yourself to different people and vice versa. Here, or in the photo shoot or wherever, it’s a representation of you. It’s not you-you. That’s how you get through it.
I think the sensation of being moved by a piece of art is something that is really good for a person's soul.