Ben Mendelsohn

Animal Kingdom' was an amalgam of two people that I had met-slash-known, not particularly well. They were both very, very scary people for very different reasons. ”

I think some of my favorite Australian films were shot by people that are not Australian. And I think when Dean Semler did 'Dances with Wolves,' for instance, that's a very different-looking Western than what you've seen much of before. It's very rich, color-wise. But we've got our own very proud thing going on. ”

There's very little different between the way the government operates in America and the way criminals do. ”

When you're a young boy, you're looking at older men for role modelling. Before I loved De Niro, I loved Clint Eastwood; I loved John Wayne. And James Bond. ”

Fassbender is fearless; he's a fearless actor. ”

I suspect, for a lot of people who become actors, there's a feeling of wanting to be someone other than who they actually are. ”

If you're going to be a father and whatnot, yeah, you better be responsible about it as best you can. ”

I was with my grandmother, while one of my brothers lived with my dad, and one lived with my mom. It wasn't a great situation. Acting was the one good thing I was involved in. ”

I think I've benefited from not being hugely known. It means I have to do something really effective to be noticed. ”

It's a tougher gig than what people think it is. The proper, real, genuine, worldwide movie stars don't get a lot of downtime from the world outside. That's a tougher price, I think, than what people's fantasy of fame account for. ”