It is more interesting to be compared to someone famous because it lets you gauge what perceptions people have about your appearance.

When you look at Michael Jackson there's nobody who loves him in that family nobody. If they did they'd tell him he didn't have to do all that in order to be famous. All he has to do is keep doing his music and be himself. Michael's been a little touched for about 20 years but somebody needs to pull him aside and tell him they love him.

As a shy kid growing up in Sheffield I fantasized about how it would be great to be famous so I wouldn't actually have to talk to people and feel awkward. And of course as we all know from fairy stories when you achieve that ambition you find out you don't want it.

I wanted to be famous. I wanted people to talk about me.

It's quite a famous story that takes place on Christmas Eve and the Germans French and Scottish are trying to make peace one night and they bury their dead and they play football. I play a German opera singer in German which I never have so I am really excited about that.

I hear the way people talk about the children of famous people. They're not treated very well. The presumptions are usually quite awful. So I tried to establish myself with a couple of movies. After 'Juno' I thought: 'I think I've defined myself enough as my own director that I'd love to work with my father.'

The worst thing about being famous is the invasion of your privacy.

I could have been a dental hygienist with nothing bad ever appearing in print about me but that's not how I've chosen to lead my life. I knew that you put yourself under a microscope the more famous you become.

One thing about being famous is the people around you you pay all their bills so they very rarely disagree with you because they want you to pick up the check.

The strangest part about being famous is you don't get to give first impressions anymore. Everyone already has an impression of you before you meet them.

Since I was seventeen I thought I might be a star. I'd think about all my heroes Charlie Parker Jimi Hendrix... I had a romantic feeling about how these people became famous.

I think the driving thing was curiosity about the universe. That fascinated me. I didn't think anything about being famous or anything like that I was just interested in the concepts involved.

Forget about being world famous it's hard enough just getting the automatic doors at the supermarket to acknowledge our existence.

The whole celebrity culture thing - I'm fascinated by and repelled by and yet I end up knowing about it.

My favorite thing about being famous... it's not really as big of a deal as everybody says it is. Being on the road is tough doing interviews and all the stuff. It's still pretty tough.

Acting is not about being famous it's about exploring the human soul.

The thing about being famous is it's weird. The only people who get how weird it is are other famous people.

The hardest thing about being famous is that people are always nice to you. You're in a conversation and everybody's agreeing with what you're saying - even if you say something totally crazy. You need people who can tell you what you don't want to hear.

I know I'm not supposed to have any opinions about politics because I'm famous.

I just want to make music I don't want people to talk about me. All I've ever wanted to do was sing. I don't want to be a celebrity. I don't want to be in people's faces you know constantly on covers of magazine that I haven't even known I'm on.

I've always been part of comedy. One of the things about our family was that if we were reasonably funny with each other particularly my two brothers and myself when my father was upset with something you'd want to make sure in some way you made him laugh. Because when he didn't laugh you were in trouble!

In my family we let our boys have a say in what veggie side they want for dinner that night. We list off a handful of options and get them excited about helping to plan the dinner menu. They're much more inclined to finish their plates when they've helped decide what goes on them.

I'm very very concerned about the Bush presidency. I'm worried about the kinds of cuts in domestic programs that mean something to a lot of people including members of my family who depend on certain things from the government.

I think 'Tattoo''s a song that can go so many different ways. Some people think of it as a break-up song but for me it's about somebody who comes into your life and really touches you - be they a friend a family member or someone you're in a relationship with.