Top 48 Quotes & Sayings by Ian McShane

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an English actor Ian McShane.
Last updated on December 24, 2024.
Ian McShane

Ian David McShane is an English actor, producer, and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series Lovejoy (1986–1994), as Al Swearengen in Deadwood (2004–2006) and its 2019 film continuation, and as Mr. Wednesday in American Gods (2017–2021). For the original series of Deadwood, McShane won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series; for the film, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.

I come from the liberal side of thinking: Better one guilty man should walk free than one innocent man found guilty.
Every actor has to love and loathe the character he plays.
I don't want to be in 'Expendables 5.' You can keep those kind of movies. β€” Β© Ian McShane
I don't want to be in 'Expendables 5.' You can keep those kind of movies.
Acting is great therapy - you get to do things you'd normally get arrested for.
I don't do social media.
'Lovejoy' has a special place in my heart because it was through my efforts that the series first came to the screen.
You don't particularly want to stay close to your ex-wife. Or why would she be your ex-wife?
I never wanted a life of having a nice house, driving around, settling down.
I had a bit of a male menopause. It started at the age of 18 and continued until I was 45.
You set paths for yourself, but as you get older, things change.
I would like to be in a really big, successful film - boffo, spectacular, $500 million!
I don't think that acting is as youth-obsessed as the general culture. In acting, as you get older, you get better, and the parts you get improve, too. But that's only true for a man, not a woman.
My second marriage was to a girl I met in Manchester, kept a long-distance relationship going for two years, then we got married... disaster. β€” Β© Ian McShane
My second marriage was to a girl I met in Manchester, kept a long-distance relationship going for two years, then we got married... disaster.
Mum and Dad were both happy for me to do what I wanted.
My dad was a football player - a soccer player - for Manchester United, and I loved playing football, but I also happened to be the guy in class who was pretty good at sight reading. My teacher gave me scripts, and I was very comfortable.
What you do is, you just do the gig, enjoy, get on with it, and treat the rest as horse doodle.
Whenever there was a pause on the 'Hercules' set, everybody whipped their Blackberries out of their skirts - 'Are you texting the King of Thrace to tell them we're on our way?'
Blackbeard is probably the most infamous pirate who ever lived. He's one of those characters for which most of your work is done before you start.
The bad boys get all the best lines.
I mean, I'm an actor. I do what comes along.
My daughter said, 'I don't think granddad really suits you.'
When you're in your early 20s, you go ahead and do everything. And it's very hard to judge yourself.
I'm a child of the Sixties.
When you're doing a medieval show like 'Pillars,' it starts off a bit like a school play. You're all in funny costumes; you've had your coffee, and you say, 'Good morning'. Then you go on set and, if you've got good actors and directors, it takes on a life of its own.
I don't believe in the death penalty, but I understand personal vengeance.
I'm from the disco era where everybody thought they were John Travolta... What song is going to get me on the dance floor? Anything from 'Saturday Night Fever,' and you're up there like a demon.
I don't remember my first two marriages... the details are very sketchy.
I enjoy every role I do.
I think the reason 'Sexy Beast' was so good was it wasn't just another run-of-the-mill gangster film; it was a love story.
Theater is a dance of a different kind, a dance of rawness and characters stripped down.
People tweet before they think, and it becomes obsessive.
Bosses will tell you they are looking for something different but they're not, actually. β€” Β© Ian McShane
Bosses will tell you they are looking for something different but they're not, actually.
Acting's boring.
I've never hankered for any role.
The bad boy: always more fun.
What 'Deadwood' did was to talk about how capitalism started, how civilised society came in, and how that brought its own problems.
Robert Fisk is my hero. In America, they think he's a terrorist.
What's great about acting is you can let all your wackiness hang out while you work.
When you've done a show that's as successful as 'Lovejoy' was, it hangs around for a few years, and people know you from it. I escaped the shadow when I stopped 'Lovejoy' by not doing any television for four years.
If 'Deadwood' had gone on another two years, I wouldn't have got as many movies made.
As long as the cheques carry on coming in, and I'm enjoying my work, I shall continue acting.
Seventy years old! How did that happen? I was part of the generation that wasn't going to die. β€” Β© Ian McShane
Seventy years old! How did that happen? I was part of the generation that wasn't going to die.
I had a teacher at school who said, 'We are going to do a play next year, and you're in it.' He said, 'You should try out for the Royal Academy as an actor.' I did and got in. I was 17. My mum wasn't too happy, but it worked out OK.
Do you follow American politics? They hate Obama. Hate him. He's a black man. That's what it is: it's racist. This guy is no bleeding-heart liberal. He's a centrist.
You don't know where life takes you.
There's only two kinds of actors - good ones and bad ones... and lucky ones and unlucky ones.
If I'd had the choice when I was 14, and someone had said to me, 'You can either be a footballer or an actor,' I'd have said: 'Well, can't I be a footballing actor?'
The shrimp was lousy and the champagne tasted like water [at the Golden Globes
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