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I was much influenced by Jean-Paul Sartre.

I liked Sartre's views but not his writing.

It was very natural that people just think of me as a comic actor.

I have always had a need for attention but didn't plan to be a comic.

Philosophically I am, or at least have been, a follower of Sartre. I am very interested in the choices we make, or don't make, in life-defining matters. That moment of 'angst' and its consequences can be such a cruel thing.

I was kind of a Rickles comic to begin with. I was caustic, and I was abusive and mean to the audience.

Not being a comic book fan, being thrown into that and seeing the extreme - it's taken very seriously. So I tried to do as much learning as I could about it so I wasn't mean or anything.

I don't see myself as a stand-up comic doing cynical, mean-spirited or disrespectful stuff. I'm very aware that I don't like to disrespect people too much.

You can't be a proper comic unless you've been out on stage and felt the fear.

I'm a quite serious actor who doesn't mind being ridiculously comic.