Alan Bates

I have always tried to work according to what affects me, to a script that I like because it touches me in some way, without deliberately pursuing a commercial career or a particular image.

You've got to have steel in you somewhere.

I do believe in living out your own time, unless it's absolutely impossible, which it is for some people.

It's good to like yourself, and that only comes from hard work, from doing. But vanity is dangerous; it can trip you badly.

I like playing dark, offbeat, quirky characters.