Dad quotes

Mum and dad thought I was going to say I was pregnant. I said oh no, no, I've just been nominated for a Golden Globe. They were like, oh that's lovely, love.

From about eight years old I was always making things on the sewing machine. Friends would see me making dresses and costumes, and I'd use difficult fabrics such as Lycra and elastic. But you know, my dad was creative and my brother is inventive too.

My mom was a dancer, my dad's a singer and I've always had that kind of music in my life.

My mom grew up in Kansas, my dad in Indiana. They had boring childhoods.

I think people like to think I'm in some way financially dependent on my family - on my dad - but the fact of the matter is I've been emancipated from my father since I was 14 years old. That's something people don't know or understand.

One day when I was like 9, I heard the Beatles on the radio, and I asked my dad who they were. He told me they were the best band in the world, and I became obsessed. He started giving me their albums in sequential order, and I listened to them - and only them - until I was probably in high school.

As I get older and I get a few more years experience I become more like Dad, you know, King Lear.

I'm a four star general in this thing, and you don't rise to the ranks of a four star general by hanging about the house being the perfect dad.

I'd always assumed that I would die at about the same age as my dad - he was 45. I am five years in credit now. I can't get my head around the fact that I am older than he was - ever.

I actually study boxing - my dad was a Golden Gloves champion so I learned how to fight at a very young age. Growing up in Brooklyn you always had to watch your back, so I pretty much learned to protect myself.

Obviously, losing a parent is very difficult. I miss my dad every day, but I know he would be proud to see me continuing to swim and going for another shot at the Olympics.

My mum's parents were from Ireland, my dad's mum was American-Irish.

I've hung out at dozens of playgrounds, bored out of my mind, with not even a look of comfort from disapproving mothers all around me. Either they think I'm a pedophile or a deadbeat dad. That's what I get for being a single dad - suspicious looks at the playground.

No, like I said, my dad was never really part of the tennis. His involvement around what I did with the tennis and with my mom and my grandparents was really not a part of my life.

I got stuck up a tree when I was about seven, and my dad had to come and get the ladder to get me down. I loved to climb all the way up to the top. I must have been a koala in my past life.

My grandmother was an actress too. In the thirties and forties she was under contract with Universal Studios. Crazy credits, lots of them. My dad was also under contract with Universal Studios. And my first film was shot on the same stage they both worked on at Universal.

I have a weird sense of humour. My dad's the same. We love watching 'Monty Python' together.

We all have roles in life. I'm a dad, a husband, this and that, but basically I only feel justified in being alive when I'm on the stage.

Some musicians I know are incredible fathers. Like Keith Richards. A fantastic dad.

A mustache really defines your face. My dad had a mustache when I was growing up, and I can still remember when he shaved it, he looked like a completely different person.