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James Nesbitt Quotes

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My best friends are still the ones I first attached myself to when I went to school because, all of a sudden, I was leaving the rather pampered and occasionally very annoying world of having three older sisters to go to a male-dominated world.

- James Nesbitt

Best, Rather, Very, Attached

Ours was a very progressive Protestant family, but my parents were God-loving rather than God-fearing. We went to church, and I still go with my mum and dad when I return home - it's a family thing. I played flute in my dad's marching band, but I had an integrated upbringing. We had a lot of Catholic friends.

- James Nesbitt

Rather, Very, Mum, Marching

When I was growing up, Belfast City Hall was surrounded by security, and we had no access to it. But now, people come in and out of it all the time. On a nice day, office workers and students sit on the lawn outside and have lunch. It's great to see how Northern Ireland has changed. To be part of that is fantastic.

- James Nesbitt

Lunch, Access, Surrounded, Fantastic

When I turned 40, subconsciously, life was a blank sheet. Before, it was disjointed, and I was very displaced and quite mad, but it was a brilliant time. Everyone thinks I must have been unhappy.

- James Nesbitt

Brilliant, Been, Very, Displaced

Funnily enough, Northern Ireland is a great example of where politics can win over conflict. The decision to down arms and follow a political path would have been unthinkable once. It shows just what is possible.

- James Nesbitt

Politics, Political, Been, Ireland

It's a complicated relationship with the place one grows up in, particularly if it's Northern Ireland.

- James Nesbitt

Grows, Particularly, Ireland

What I discovered all over Ireland is that people living simple lives by the sea or in the remote countryside seem a lot calmer than city folk with their iPads and their Android phones.

- James Nesbitt

Living, Over, Discovered, Ireland

I was one of the many kids in Northern Ireland who grew up in the countryside and had an idyllic childhood well away from the Troubles.

- James Nesbitt

Childhood, Away, Countryside, Northern Ireland

I think a lot of us who grew up in Northern Ireland weren't politicised enough, frankly.

- James Nesbitt

Enough, Think, I Think, Northern Ireland

Ever since I left Northern Ireland, I've always been pretty comfortable on my own, which contradicts a lot of people's perceptions of me.

- James Nesbitt

Always, Been, Which, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has treated me well, you know?

- James Nesbitt

Me, Well, Treated, Northern Ireland

I loved my time growing up in Northern Ireland doing youth drama, that is where it all began for me.

- James Nesbitt

Doing, Began, Northern, Northern Ireland

The reality of life in Northern Ireland is that if you were Protestant, you learned British history, and if you were Catholic, you learned Irish history in school.

- James Nesbitt

Irish, British, Learned, Northern Ireland

As I flew back from New Zealand to bury my mother, it occurred to me that no matter how harrowing her loss was and how keenly it will always be felt, there was, nevertheless, a sense of relief that my father, sisters and I could say a final goodbye after the longest goodbye and relief that my mum had finally been released.

- James Nesbitt

Been, Longest, Nevertheless, Harrowing

I feel old and vulnerable. I now realise that I knew nothing and know nothing, but back when my career was beginning, I thought I was a man when, in fact, I was a dewy-eyed boy who'd not seen an avocado or eaten a tomato.

- James Nesbitt

Beginning, Career, Fact, Eaten

As I told Piers Morgan, 'Catholics have confession, whereas Northern Irish Protestants only have interviews.'

- James Nesbitt

Irish, Confession, Morgan, Catholics

I am in the public eye, and I accept that my actions may be open to question.

- James Nesbitt

I Am, Eye, Public, Public Eye

Several years ago, I began losing my hair, and like a lot of men, it was a major concern to me, in fact it was practically an obsession. But, also I'm an actor, so I'm in the public eye a lot and I really felt that my hair loss could affect my career prospects.

- James Nesbitt

Career, Fact, Affect, Public Eye

We have to get behind the scientists and push for a dementia breakthrough. It could be that we fear dementia out of a sense of hopelessness, but there is hope, and it rests in the hands of our scientists.

- James Nesbitt

Hands, Behind, Breakthrough, Hopelessness

People love watching medical dramas - they also love watching documentaries about the workings of the brain.

- James Nesbitt

Love, Medical, Documentaries, Dramas

Brain surgery is a fairly aggressive process. There's a lot to get through. There's the beautiful, delicate shaving first, which is really lovely. There's a wonderful ceremony of putting all the covers on, so only the little bit you're operating on is revealed. But once they make the incision and tear the skin back, the drill comes out.

- James Nesbitt

Through, Delicate, Putting, Aggressive

My early ambitions were the same as they are now - to play for Manchester United. I was, and still am, football mad.

- James Nesbitt

Play, United, Still, Manchester

I went to India with UNICEF in connection with Manchester United to raise money for children's education.

- James Nesbitt

Education, Money, UNICEF, Manchester

I do commercials, but I also go to Sudan as an ambassador for UNICEF.

- James Nesbitt

Sudan, Commercials, UNICEF

Who am I to pass judgment? Judgment has been passed on me, but I adhere to, 'Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.'

- James Nesbitt

Been, Pass, Adhere, Who Am I

Improvising political dialogue is not easy.

- James Nesbitt

Political, Dialogue, Easy, Improvising

Some actors can distance themselves from the parts they play, but I fall into the category who use bits of themselves.

- James Nesbitt

Play, Distance, Some, Category

Supporting drama for young people is close to my heart.

- James Nesbitt

Drama, Young, Young People, Supporting

A lot of people of my Ulster Protestant background would have been very suspicious of the notion of a film about Bloody Sunday. Our fear would have been that it would be terribly anti-Britain and anti-soldiers: a piece of nationalist propaganda.

- James Nesbitt

Been, Very, Propaganda, Nationalist

There's some irony in playing a journalist after some of the stuff that has been written about me, but it's a great profession, particularly investigative journalism.

- James Nesbitt

Some, Been, Profession, Investigative

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