Well, I think I`ve made 44 films and only like four times I`ve played real characters I`m just drawn to people who have a pioneer spirit, this extraordinary energy and commitment to their cause.

But, you know, there`s still an argument, there`s still ten states that outlaw premarital sex, and many more states where adultery is still outlawed and a crime.

Before Schindler`s List (1993), I wouldn`t have believed movies had a lot of power for social change. But having seen what happened with "Schindler`s List", and touring the world with it, it really made me realize the power of images.

I did, although I didn`t read from page 1 to page 187 but I read chunks of it. I did a little bit of science when I was in the university so I was able to understand the graphs and pie charts and stuff like that. It was extremely dry.

And the Institute sent me a little film footage of Kinsey himself preparing to do an interview for television to talk about his work, so that was quite valuable for me.

In Los Angeles, it`s like they jog for two hours a day and then they think they`re morally right. That`s when you want to choke people, you know?

It`s extraordinary to look into a baby`s face and see a piece of your flesh and your spirit. It makes you realize you are a part of the human race.

In bed at night, I could be reading some book, and I`ll come across a sentence that`s totally unrelated to some scene I did years ago. But I`ll play the scene back in my mind and think, I did that wrong - I should`ve opened the door more slowly.

Getting married and settling down isn`t the most important thing in my life.

In Los Angeles, it`s like they jog for two hours a day and then they think they`re morally right. That`s when you want to choke people, you know?

Well, from an acting point of view, I bear no relation, I don`t look like Alfred Kinsey at all, but I thought somewhere in my artist`s soul, my actor`s soul, I could capture something of the spirit of the man.

Some mornings you wake up and think, gee I look handsome today. Other days I think, what am I doing in the movies? I wanna go back to Ireland and drive a forklift.

Sitting down to eat in our house is about sharing, you know, talking about the day you`ve had, be it in school or work or whatever, so that`s very important to us.

Every cliche about kids is true; they grow up so quickly, you blink and they`re gone, and you have to spend the time with them now. But that`s a joy.

I`m not the kind of actor that would know what my character had for breakfast last Tuesday.

But, you know, sex is controversial, it just is and it always will be.

I never did think of myself as handsome--terribly attractive, yes, but not handsome.

People ask me if I ever feel outside the Hollywood loop, and I never do, because both of us do a lot of theatre, so it`s great for New York and it`s also half-way between Europe and the west coast, so it`s the best of both worlds.

And as the hour approached for the execution, in his own mind, Collins became both the executioner and the victim. He would pace up and down, transformed in almost a kind of exorcism when he knew he was responsible for taking someone`s life.

I always wanted to be a cowboy, and Jedi Knights are basically cowboys in space, right?

It`s interesting, the more successful you become the more people want to give you stuff for nothing.

Well, I think they`re all basically the same story. Every culture in the world has them. When you strip it down and analyze it, it`s the young man or girl who goes through a trial or ordeal and hits a very low ebb but manages to get guidance from a Merlin type figure.

I`m absolutely crazy about fly fishing.

Acting is invigorating. But I don`t analyse it too much. It`s like a dog smelling where it`s going to do its toilet in the morning.

Well I think people think sex is controversial. Not always, but certainly it`s something to be discussed.

Kinsey`s quest was really for us all to be tolerant and accepting of each other.

I think I realized there were two communities in Northern Ireland when I was about nine or 10, not because there was any trouble but because in certain years my parents would keep us indoors on the 12th of July. I couldn`t figure that out, because all my mates were out dancing in the streets and I wanted to go out and join them. So it was then that I sensed a "them and us" attitude.

Acting with creatures that aren`t there is kind like acting with an actor who refuses to come out of his trailer. You still have to go on and do the scene.

Some mornings you wake up and think, "Gee, I look handsome today." Other days I think, "What am I doing in the movies? I wanna go back to Ireland and drive a forklift".

Yes, I`m Catholic; I`m proud of it. But I had lots of Protestant friends.

I`d like to play Ian Paisley, actually. I`d need building up, though he`s very frail now.

I love working with children and this young boy, Thomas Sangster, is quite a remarkable young actor. He raises your game, you know. He certainly raised mine.

At the Sex Institute in Bloomington, Indiana, they were a phenomenal help, too. We went out there for a few days, and they gave us access to materials. And the biographies, there are four or five, ranging from very poor to excellent.

[on the widespread unemployment of actors and their fear of it] The truth is I love the insecurity part of it, it keeps me on my toes. I think you become bland and predictable without the stress and angst. There`s a certain lethargy that sets in.

I grew up in Northern Ireland, of course. Lived all through the Troubles; saw violence, the results of violence, at first hand. It`s always terrified me and fascinated me. So it was a gut reaction, something about how that rage can eat you alive. I can understand that. I haven`t known it myself, but I knew guys who did. Some of them aren`t on this planet any more because of it.

Well I was on the jury duty on the Deauville Film Festival, a few years ago.

No, I don`t get obsessed with acting. Because in the past when I have got obsessed about it, it really got in the way of the creative process. I`ve learned to hang the character on the coat-peg at the end of the day, and when I leave in the morning I pick it up again. And I had to work at that because the other way lies a strange sort of madness.

Laid-back? My wife said that? Well, I guess I am. It takes a lot to get me riled.

But let`s just say, I`m Irish. I grew up in the 1950s. Religion had a very tight iron fist.

I thought, well of course, Kinsey absolutely adored teaching. He was a wonderful teacher. So these kids really inspired me. So that was a clue I hung onto. He loved young people, he absolutely loved them. And he loved teaching them and trying to help them.

Acting is invigorating. But I don`t analyze it too much. It`s like a dog smelling where it`s going to do its toilet in the morning.

Yeah, well, I finally stopped smoking for good.

But I was very, very lucky, and it was a wake up call as far as motorbikes are concerned. I never flirted with death on the bike, but now I`m totally convinced they`re death machines.