Martin Clunes Quotes

My dad was a different bloke to me and not very nice to my mum, although I never judge him. If you did, you’d become one of those people who is all-consumed by a fault in their past. And I haven’t got the time for it.

The main trouble with women is that they will just not put the seat back up again.

You do get into a groove, which is great, when you get to act with the same people a lot. Like with Caroline Catz – it’s like a duet: you’re like a duo jamming together.

It’s so fantastic that Prince William has championed African wildlife. He’s putting his back into it – and one thing the royal family is brilliant at is getting people to cough up.

My horses make very silly faces when I’m preparing their meals.

I tell you, I’ve always been quite physical about acting. I’ve always felt about for the shape of someone or the deportment, for better or worse. Sometimes I think I’ve done it disastrously, and other times, when I’m not thinking about it so much, less disastrously, but I can’t seem to control it much.

An awful lot of people have childhood memories of holidays in Cornwall, and the holidays are old-fashioned and hugely successful. You stick a child and a dog on one of the beaches, and they just light up; they just love it.

Nobody just flops a complete ‘Doc Martin’ script on the desk. They all have to be taken apart and all the apologizing taken out. Because it’s hard to have a protagonist that doesn’t really like anyone and nobody really likes him; it’s a hard premise to start from.

Do I suffer for my art? Well, I get a lot of flatulence when I’m nervous.

For me, family feels like a web of love and care, and instinctively, too, I do just like nurturing things.

We have a fair on our farm every year – a gymkhana and a dog show and a funfair and a heavy-horse show. It was my idea. Be careful what you wish for – it’s a monster.

Unlike my mother, who was unashamedly delighted when I decided to become an actor, I always feel that my father, had he lived longer, might have been a touch disapproving of some of my career – I think he might have tutted a bit at ‘Men Behaving Badly.’

What I do know is that I love the whole idea of family, even the word itself.

I live on a farm in Dorset. The nearest neighbour is a quarter of a mile away. It’s really quiet, with an amazing view – can’t see a pylon, can’t see a road. Blockbuster’s an event in our house, when the little blue envelope comes in.

When people asked me, ‘What are you going to do?’ I’d say, ‘I’m going to be an actor,’ without really thinking about it. And I started acting without really thinking about it. I only thought about it properly a bit later.

As first and foremost a character actor, I’ve always resisted the temptation to cure any of the people I’ve played or make them lovable in any way; you’ve just got to celebrate them for what they are.

We keep horses. I have to keep working.

For years, I was either referred to as a ‘rubber-faced funny man’ or ‘the ‘Men Behaving Badly’ star.’