Tom Sturridge

There are few things that are more revealing about someone than the way that they talk about a piece of literature or a play. You very quickly come to have a much deeper understanding of someone than you would if you just mingled together in a pub saying, 'All right, how are you?'

I left school early in my last year before I took my A-levels. I wasn't expelled. It was just a mutual understanding. I wasn't interested in going to school and they said, 'You're not turning up,' so we severed ties. Both sides appreciated it.

The phrase 'dream career' sounds pretty stupid.

My career may look bizarre to some, but I have very strong reasons for doing every single job I've done.

So many things I thought I was doing have fallen apart. Until I've finished filming, I don't believe I have the job.

I shouldn't be right for every role, because I'm not.

1984' is terrifyingly relevant. It generates a political conversation, but it's an exciting piece of theatre. Every day, there are things to be spawned from Orwell's mind, whether it's in England or America, terrorist-related or government-related.

My core group of friends are all from when I was a kid.

Even the way Mamet describes silences within his plays is different. There are pauses; there are pauses within parentheses; there are pauses before dialogue; there are pauses in the spaces between the dialogue - there's this extraordinary vocabulary of silence which is all there on the page, mapped out.

If I'd been a parent to myself, I would have been scared because I was only ever interested in my own thoughts.

It's always dangerous to prescribe an idea on other people.

If a film is being made by an intelligent director, they're going to cast the right guy.