Lennie James Quotations

If you look in real life, it is very hard to describe people as good people, bad people, heroes or villains. People aren't bad people. They all have their justifications.

I'm not setting 'Jericho' up to be anything other than what it is, which is, you know, a piece of good, well thought-out, well put-together TV and entertainment.

My thing is, I like playing guys who have a really interesting internal monologue.

I was dreading all of the ghost stories of working on American television, not in the least, the length. In Britain, a series is six episodes of an hour drama, maybe sometimes eight, but never twenty-two, so I was petrified of that.

My favorite television show of all time is 'Hill Street Blues.' I think it's the show that is to television what Pele was to football or Muhammad Ali was to boxing.

When I was growing up and watching 'The Sweeney,' the notion of police officers being an inch away from the villains that they're chasing was commonplace.

I've worked in the theater, television, and films. A five-hour TV series is certainly more time than a character I'd be playing in a film.

I owe 'Jericho' my whole time in America, really. It was a fantastic group of people to work with.

I went to an all boys' school in South London and the only god was sport.

I'm not a broad comic, but I think I can be funny and I think I make people laugh.

I'm part of that generation that grew up watching TV, and being an actor was all about being on TV or being in films.

I don't usually like talking about acting or what my process is, and all those kinds of things, because I don't necessarily think it's helpful to talk about how I do my job.

I will say that when I first came out to the States to work on 'Jericho,' that was the only time that I've ever been frightened about a job, because in America they tell stories over such a long time, and I was petrified that I'd get bored.

I've written virtually as long as I've acted, it wasn't a sudden transition. I acted in my first play when I was 16 and I wrote my first play when I was 17.

One of the things I learnt over the years is that there is a craft to writing, like there is a craft to acting. I hadn't done my apprenticeship as a writer. I did try to be a writer for hire but I'm not any good at it.

One of the things I liked about playing Tony Gates in 'Line of Duty' was that I don't think he gave much thought to justifying his actions until he was under investigation.

I like playing guys where it's as important what they're thinking as what they're saying. Those are the people I like playing, and the actor that I strive to be. I like actors who work in that area and I like parts that allow me to work in that area.

If you're very clearly good or you're very clearly bad, then there isn't that much internal dilemma going on, and that's not necessarily as interesting to play.