David Tennant Quotes

I was sent good luck cards from Tom Baker and Peter Davison. They were the Doctors I grew up watching, while eating toast and drinking Tizer at home, so I was very honoured.

Drama school is a pretty intense experience and I think it changes who you are. I think I grew up at drama school (which was fairly useful personally as much as professionally) and I certainly got exposed to a huge range of ideas, techniques and practices that I had no previous experience of. I wouldn`t have known what I was doing as an actor if I hadn`t gone.

Unlike other enduring characters such as Sherlock Holmes or Tarzan, being the Doctor allows you a certain freedom that is both very demanding and very thrilling. It allows you to make the character using elements of yourself.

On his early decision to become an actor: "I was very small, about 3 or 4 I think, and just wanted to be the people on telly telling these wonderful stories. Obviously the idea grew and matured with me but I can`t ever remember wanting to do anything else. I`ve just sort of taken it for granted all my life that that was what I would do."

I do thrive on hard work.

"The police, the press, the politicians all in it together – perfect conspiracy. There's something Greek about it, isn't there?" - On the newspaper hacking scandal.

I remember a conversation with my parents about who the people on the TV were, and learning they were actors and they acted out this story and just thinking that was the most fantastic notion, and that's what I want to do. And I remember understanding very clearly the difference between the fantasy and reality of that, and that making it even more exciting.

"There's definitely a swot inside me." (On his interest in learning)

It's funny [Arabella Weir's quote about me 'being steely' is always brought up. I don't feel very steely. I imagine she'd say it's about a determination of purpose, which I can't deny. Certainly, in terms of being an actor, I was very single-minded. That didn't feel 'steely' to me.

"Fear, probably. Fear of being found out, fear of not being any good and just, you know, fear of failing." (What his starting point is, as an actor)

I've always been a geek and slightly awkward. I was never the cool kid at school.

"The moment one is made aware of that sort of thing, it's very hard to enjoy because it feels so absurd and unconnected, because you're patently aware it's not true. It's not true because it's not to do with you, it's to do with characters you play, it's not to do with who you are, or even what you look like." (On being considered a sex symbol)

I'm a good person, I hope. But I'm never as good as I want to be, never as nice as I want to be, never as generous as I want to be.

Religion must have shaped my character. I still go to church occasionally. There's a morality. I think there's a moral compass but whether that comes from religion or just from being a good person, and where one starts and the other begins...

Actors often have a reputation for being ludicrous and arrogant, and I don't think either are necessary and I think because you produce work collectively it's important to be respectful and receptive, and frankly there's too many of us. It's an overcrowded profession, so there's no excuse for behaving like a twat. And I don't like people who do.

"Left-leaning. Socialist, liberal." (On how he would describe himself, politically)

I had no great sense of nationalism when I was in Scotland, and I could never understand why the SNP were banging on about it. I was like, why do we want to become smaller? Surely we want to expand and look outward? Let's go into Europe and be one big happy family!

I understand there's an interest in my private life, and I don't want to feed it.

I don't think tactically. I just like to join the jobs up and hope they will be as varied and interesting as possible. So if I can do a film with DreamWorks, then come back and do a little British film, then do something in the West End, then do something for the BBC, that's great.

I have a very happy family life.

"It did take me a few weeks to think it through. But the only other option is you don't do the job. I remember waking up one morning thinking: 'I can't turn this down. Even if it's the wrong thing to do.'" (On the decision to accept the Doctor Who role)

"It couldn't have been less memorable or less significant. It was robbed of any epic quality, but that was probably best. There are a lot of scenes in the final story that are very sad, and were very sad to play. If one of them had coincided with the actual final day, I'd have been a puddle." (On filming his last lines as the Doctor)

"You know you're going to have to cope with it on some level, but until it happens to you I defy anyone to really know what it feels like. When I saw people who were famous, and people whispered and pointed, it felt as though a very powerful individual had walked by. And actually, once you are that person, it just feels scary. All the time." (On fame)

Relationships are hard enough with the people you're having them with, let alone talking about them in public.

Not all men of the church are necessarily good human beings, but my dad happens to be. My mum was, too. "I feel very thankful for that.

Leaving home was one of the best things that happened to me. I was a bit green. I wasn't a particularly worldly 17-year-old." At drama school I was surrounded by all these exotic older people who seemed to know about life. So it was a really brilliant time.

I think I've just been lucky, really, because I'm not conventional leading-man stuff. I'm slightly left of centre. I remember going up for Casanova thinking: 'I haven't got a chance – the other people are much more traditional square-jawed types.'

In 2009, he was cast in the film 'Burke and Hare,' playing William Hare, which was filmed in early 2010. However NBC forced him to drop out of the role, as he had recently filmed a TV pilot for a show called 'Rex Is Not Your Lawyer' and he was still under contract to them. NBC originally made the Rex pilot as a potential Fall 2010 show, but when the Today Show crisis happened, they considered putting it into production as a mid-season replacement, which meant that David would be needed to film earlier. Ironically NBC never picked up Rex at all, meaning David lost the Burke and Hare role needlessly. Andy Serkis went on to play the role of Hare.