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
Keats himself spoke about how Shakespeare was capable of erasing himself completely from the characters he had created. As an actor, that is what I'm trying to do.
I am a typical Libran. I tend to see two sides of everything.
I find it really hard to say anything coherent or interesting about the work I do.
The criminal justice system, like any system designed by human beings, clearly has its flaws.
I can be shy, but I’m not really. I try to be better at overcoming these things people have said.
I've been out to LA a couple of times but, over there, the Grenouille in me always comes to the surface. I feel completely terrified, totally flummoxed, like I don't understand what the hell is going on. I've no desire at all to go back there.
I think the sensation of being moved by a piece of art is something that is really good for a person's soul.
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 find it weird that people want to know about you.
I reckon domesticated cats have a pretty good life.
I always feel I am in the dark. You are never finished… it is not as if you can look back and think: ah… I know what I am talking about. You are only as good as your last job and are always struggling and striving and you never quite get to where you want to be…
Your one certainty in life, your power as a human being, is that you have a choice in every situation about what you do next and about how you take what has happened to you.
I would have loved to have been a painter or a sculptor. I'm still fascinated by those things.