Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans
Rhys Ifans is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of characters such as Spike in Notting Hill, Jed Parry in Enduring Love and Eyeball Paul in Kevin & Perry Go Large. He is also known as a member of the rock groups Super Furry Animals and The Peth. Ifans also appeared as Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, and as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man. He...
NationalityWelsh
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth22 July 1967
CityHaverfordwest, England
I've reached a point in my career when I can demand certain conditions, and one of them is a weekend break every three weeks during the shoot.
My personal life is invented for me, so why bother?
I honed my passion for acting in theatre and education, and I think it's important not to belittle the child audience.
Shyness is invariably a suppression of something. It's almost a fear of what you're capable of.
I am essentially very shy. Which, I guess, is why I'm very good at not being shy.
There's two kinds of rock n' roll casualty: the one that has huge success and adoration, and then suddenly it stops. Or there's when you're in a band: it is all-consuming, so then you have the dream of that, and then the dream's taken away from you even before it happens.
You look at any culture, and prohibition has invariably been an unmitigated failure. It is just idiotic to criminalise any substance, I think.
Welsh women aren't the most tactile unless they're your relatives. And then you don't want them to be.
Film and stage are very different; I don't necessarily prefer one over the other. Every few years, I get a big itch to go back to the theater. To learn humility, to learn bravery and to remind yourself that the pistons that drive your craft are working on full power. And to remind yourself how badly paid actors can be.
I come from a culture where the pub is the centre of the community. The pub is the Internet. It's where information is gathered, collated and addressed.
Whereas Superman is a godlike guy from another planet and Batman is this mysterious, unknowable billionaire, everyone in 'Spider-Man' is human and flawed.
I'm always flabbergasted and overwhelmed by the audience a film reaches.
After you have been incarcerated for so long, whatever story is told in the aftermath is beautiful.
As a Welsh speaker, I'm very conscious of how activism can effect real change.