Jamie Bell Quotes

I think a mantra I always told myself is, "No matter how many times somebody pitches the ball at you, if you swing every time, eventually one of them is going to connect." Being yourself and persistence are two things that became my daily mantras, I suppose.

I never realised that the Edinburgh skyline was so interesting - it's gothic and very urban and there's a lot of church spires and old brownstone buildings.

When you have a child, you are just immediately changed forever. You put yourself second. Your child comes first, and everything that you do is with them in mind.

I think documentary filmmaking is a braver way to make films because it's real, and you're really there.

I'll tell you what I hate - bands like My Chemical Romance.

I'm very good at meeting people, very outgoing.

I think it was the sense that Turn is a spy thriller, and that's a genre that really fascinates me, in general.

I think everyone still thinks I'm 13.

I hate the stereotype of the pitfalls of the child actor. There are so many amazing examples - Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jodie Foster, Drew Barrymore - of people who have made it through.

I don't think there's a lot of actors out there right now who really know what they're doing at all.

We're kind of in a voyeuristic world. We have TV shows that are all about watching people do weird things in houses. People are obsessed with that. There's live coverage of it.

What's weird is that I work with these directors and then I start channeling them. I kind of turn into them a bit - which is cool when you're working with Clint Eastwood.

I'm proud of my works. But there's not one thing that I can put my finger on and say, "That is my greatest achievement. That's my proudest moment." That's so tricky to me.

I go into meetings with some film-makers and they literally have nothing to say, they're almost bored by their own material. I'd rather work with people who are very passionate and very animated about what they want to do. People who just want to tell stories.

I remember when I first came to America and I saw posters for TV shows and I was like, "What?! Why does a television show deserve space on a billboard?"

I've just been blessed to work with these really great people.

I excelled in English while I was at school.

The complexity of the situation of having a war going on around you and what that delivers to you is that you have to figure out which side to take.

I'm just a small guy so if I'd dropped any more weight it would have been a bit ridiculous.

That's just a much more enjoyable and motivating experience for me, when I can see people who are just as obsessed with the idea as I am.

Every interview I do, it's basically 'how did he do it,' and I owe it all to my representation, and my manager is basically like my mother, she's so picky.

I think I have much more appreciation for directing and movies overall versus a performance or an actor. Their body of work is more interesting.

I'm a hard-mouthed northeastern lad. That's me - the Eminem of Northeast England.

When I see people talking about TV, they're way more animated, way more passionate than when they talk about films.

New York is full of crazy people, and I like that.

It must be hard to be a female in a David Mackenzie movie. I feel like women in his films are portrayed a certain way - like broken people.

If the right thing came along at the right time, it would be an enormous kind of challenge.

Surfing isn't really in my blood. It's hard to catch a big wave in Billingham.

I actually don't mind rats at all. I kind of think they're quite cute, but that's just me.

I never really sympathised with Peter Parker.

It's hard to define somebody by one movie. I mean, unfortunately, my entire life was basically made by Billy Elliot. It was kind of created by that one catalytic moment.

I've got lots of weird illustrations of me from Japanese fans.

Sometimes great things come from doing things quickly and not over-thinking stuff.

My characters are often without a significant parental figure.

I look at my contemporaries, and we're all at different stages and levels, and all choosing different routes, different ways to do things.

AMC is a fantastic network that does diverse programming, and does it at a really good level and of great quality.

I lost my mind at 15. I'd been shown a world where there were no boundaries, where everyone gave me all the power. And I was like, 'This is great!' Then that was gone. But I was like, 'Yeah, but I still want that.' I'd lost my humble, very quiet, introverted sensibilities which I think I definitely had as a kid.

It's hard to incorporate dance into movies I think.

Indiana Jones is very much an old-world kind of hero. He doesn't really have any kind of superpower or rely on any kind of technology to help him out of things.

I'm awkward around girls.

I sympathize with every kitchen porter.

You just have to surround yourself with people who are going to support and love you before trying to sell you as a product, or push you into something you don't want to do.

Dancing is like riding a bike.

Any time you can completely immerse yourself in something it's fun.

I don't take any photographs. I travel a lot by myself, and I feel weird taking photos on my own.

I wanted to be a journalist for a long time.

I have, I think, eight mentors. It's crazy, but I need them. They are all really important to me. They keep me grounded and advise me.

As a kid I never had the impulse to climb anything. I think that most kids who live in small towns or rural areas outside of the city, that's what they do - climb walls, or trees, or whatever. To me, it was more dance classes and not being very boyish.