Kenneth Branagh

It's very strange that the people you love are often the people you're most cruel to.

I think that music is crucially important in Shakespeare - and, clearly, was an important part of the Elizabethan theatre. And, it's always been something that was a profound element of the experience of Shakespeare that I have been drawn to - and interpreters have, as well.

Music and language are a vital element. We, as actors and directors, offer it to people who want to experience it. Sometimes the actual meaning is less important than the words themselves.

Life is about making plans from which you deviate, almost always. If you are lucky, you do come up with a plan.

I've lived a lot of my life in London, so I often feel that I am a Londoner.

Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, laugh more, and don't get so worked up about things.

Life is surreal and beautiful.

I think A Midsummer Night's Dream would be terrific because of the transformations that occur. Or The Tempest, things like that. Extraordinary larger than life or supernatural element.

I have a pathetic urge at some stage in my life to be able to pull out my wallet and pull out a little card on which it would say, 'Kenneth Branagh, artistic director.'

Jack Ryan' is a very fast-paced, very contemporary, very action-driven thriller.

One of the things that makes Hamlet unique among Shakespeare's characters is his courage to face up to the darker elements of his personality.

Frankenstein' feels like an ancient tale, the kind of traditional story that appears in many other forms.