James Nesbitt Quotes

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James Nesbitt

Profession : Actor

Birth : January 15, 1965

Ours was a very progressive Protestant family, but my parents were God-loving rather than God-fearing. We went to church, and I still go with my mum and dad when I return home - it's a family thing. I played flute in my dad's marching band, but I had an integrated upbringing. We had a lot of Catholic friends.

James Nesbitt

Like the character I played in 'Jekyll', we all have different masks we put on for different occasions. As much as we all want to lead decent lives, we're also attracted by the idea that something dark may lurk within us.

James Nesbitt

The reality of life in Northern Ireland is that if you were Protestant, you learned British history, and if you were Catholic, you learned Irish history in school.

James Nesbitt

When I did the film 'Hear My Voice' a few years ago, I disappeared fully up my own backside for a while. Because I thought my career was taking off, I became a bit of an egomaniac and a pain in the neck. I thought I was God's gift to mankind and the greatest Irishman since George Best.

James Nesbitt

It's a complicated relationship with the place one grows up in, particularly if it's Northern Ireland.

James Nesbitt

Belfast is a city which, while not forgetting its past, is living comfortably with its present and looking forward to its future.

James Nesbitt

'Spoilt' is a euphemism for 'loved.'

James Nesbitt

When I was growing up, Belfast City Hall was surrounded by security, and we had no access to it. But now, people come in and out of it all the time. On a nice day, office workers and students sit on the lawn outside and have lunch. It's great to see how Northern Ireland has changed. To be part of that is fantastic.

James Nesbitt

It's easier to act in your own accent.

James Nesbitt

My best friends are still the ones I first attached myself to when I went to school because, all of a sudden, I was leaving the rather pampered and occasionally very annoying world of having three older sisters to go to a male-dominated world.

James Nesbitt

I feel old and vulnerable. I now realise that I knew nothing and know nothing, but back when my career was beginning, I thought I was a man when, in fact, I was a dewy-eyed boy who'd not seen an avocado or eaten a tomato.

James Nesbitt

I thought I was God's gift to mankind and the greatest Irishman since George Best.

James Nesbitt

I never forget that I'm extremely fortunate.

James Nesbitt

It's ridiculous, but it's horrible going bald. Anyone who says it isn't is lying.

James Nesbitt

Several years ago, I began losing my hair, and like a lot of men, it was a major concern to me, in fact it was practically an obsession. But, also I'm an actor, so I'm in the public eye a lot and I really felt that my hair loss could affect my career prospects.

James Nesbitt

I'm not an actor who is often asked to be in period things.

James Nesbitt

I'm not strong-willed enough or unkind enough... or maybe simply not wise enough to tell a journalist that a subject is out of bounds.

James Nesbitt

I'd be a very easy therapist's subject.

James Nesbitt

My mother taught me what it is to have a sense of humour; my dad, who was a headmaster, everything you need to know about hard work. My dad is the most decent man you could come across.

James Nesbitt

The thing to remember is that the work comes first, and not to get distracted by anything else. If you keep focused on the work, everything else will fall into place. That's my mantra now.

James Nesbitt