ARTS / Overheard

Frightful video tapes circulate like conkers among the young. - Lord Deedes, veteran commentator, Daily Telegraph

I know I look thick and I play thick people, but it doesn't mean I am thick. - Kathy Burke, one of the stars of Mr Wroe's Virgins, Guardian

I like decadent characters. There's something epic about people who are really decadent. - Terence Stamp, actor and now novelist, Daily Telegraph

We never thought we were writing popular drama. We thought we were writing unflinching drama-documentary. - Paul Unwin, one of the inventors of Casualty, on the early days of the show, Guardian

I am probably the most successful actor in the history of the movies, financially speaking. - Jack Nicholson, whose recent oeuvre includes the noted flops The Two Jakes and Man Trouble, Independent

I don't have a philosophy. I'm correctly cast as a writer because I'm as confused and as ambivalent, selfish and fitful as my characters. - John Updike, Times

It's our attempt to demystify the subject. We're just trying to get down to basics: act one, bird comes on, warbles, bit of violence, two blokes come on, bit of a bundle, half-time. - Harry Enfield, comedian, on his forthcoming TV Guide to Opera, Radio Times