My sights have always been on acting, on the creative process, never the lifestyle. Growing up in Northern Ireland when I did, everything was against you if you wanted to do something like that. But I was determined.

I'm a big fan of live music and going to gigs, but I'll leave it to the professionals.

You immediately hear the word 'Merlin,' you think magic, you think adventure, excitement - you also think 'an old man.'

You look for comic relief in difficult times.

False friendship, like the ivy, decays and ruins the walls it embraces; but true friendship gives new life and animation to the object it supports.

I grew very skeptical of certain kind of Jewish separatism in my youth. I mean, I saw the Jewish community was always with each other; they didn't trust anybody outside. You'd bring someone home, and the first question was, 'Are they Jewish, are they not Jewish?'

I have a skepticism toward romance. I believe that decency and companionship are, in the long run, more important in life.

Suddenly, my friend's daughters are becoming my best friends. I have so many 12-year-old girlfriends.