Top 40 Tom Payne Quotes

I’m definitely an animal lover.

With something like Waterloo Road’ it was a lot slower and because I had a relatively small part – I mean, my character wasn’t a main – I wasn’t in filming so much.

I was on the tube the other day and it was after the Chelsea match and everyone was going crazy screaming across at each other. I just can’t imagine ever getting that excited about it!

I think, primarily, acting is like working out a muscle; the more you get to do it, the bigger that muscle gets.

The right thing is to look after people and women and women’s rights to their own bodies.

Jockeys – it’s so difficult It’s completely insane. You’re balancing on the balls of your feet on the spine of a horse and it’s like you’re piloting a missile It’s amazing. I think jockeys are stunt men.

In my teenage years I had a very anti-cruelty orientation and all that kind of stuff, so having spent a long time at the track and around the horses and around the people that are there, I realized the saddest thing that can happen is if anything happens to a horse.

You have to take gambles in life.

The whole experience of being on The Walking Dead’ is a singular experience.

Well, conventions are so cool, because I just feel like I’m giving out smiles all day, it’s so fun, and you get people who are hysterically crying.

I can’t remember what episode it is but there’s an episode of Prodigal Son’ where I wake up in my underwear and, you can see, I can put the beef on!

When learning boxing and martial arts, there wasn’t any fakery in my training. When teaching you the basics of fighting, even though it’s faked for the camera, they teach you to do it for real.

I have a gym membership, but that’s always been more about muscle building for roles.

My whole life has changed in the last three years and The Walking Dead’ is no small part of that. It’s changed my life and will continue to do so.

I had an audition notice from my agent telling me the fake name of the part with a short description. I knew it was for The Walking Dead’ but had no idea of what the part would end up being.

I wasn’t thinking about awards or becoming rich. I just wanted to be able to make my living by working as an actor.

When you have that fake beard and stuff stuck on your face, you can’t move your face. It’s just not fun.

When I was about 6 years old, I got dragged into an audition for the school play. A teacher thought it would be good for me because I liked to perform and show off.

‘Prodigal Son’ actually came along a lot quicker than I was expecting my next job to come. I was prepared to take a while off, but then it was such a good opportunity that I couldn’t turn it down.

If you want to succeed, you have to take the necessary risks and the occasional leap in the dark.

I have no wish to go back to being frustrated by a character. It’s really just part of being on an ongoing series. You’re constantly hoping the next episode you get, something will happen for you. You’re on the edge of your seat all the time, pressing your hands together and hoping that something cool will turn up.

Honestly, a lot of the time, I’m like, ‘Oh, my god, I’ve got so many lines to learn,’ that I have to focus and get in into a bit of a zone, but there are always moments to have some fun.

I love the way America is so aspirational. I really like the attitude that you can be anything you want to be as long as you’re willing to work for it.

There’s no way I can grow a Jesus beard in a week.

There’s years of growth and emotions in that hair. And it gets cut off and you’re like, ‘I’m really metamorphosing into something else. I’m emerging.’

There are things that happen, at different times in your life. You go through natural changes in life, when you reach your 30s, mid-30s and 40s, and you go through these different stages.

I’ve led movies before, but not a TV show, and it’s a different beast. You have to pace yourself more.

I had been working in England since 2005 when I left drama school.

Hugh Jackman, he’s so tall and big, he had to eat so much. It’s like Chris Hemsworth. You have to eat so much and spend so much money on food.

Had I stayed in England, I would have had to take at least a few acting jobs just for the money.

If they did recast the Wolverine part, I’d be well up for it.

So, yeah, if I could play anyone, I think it would be Black Panther.

I was quite discerning the first year and when I was doing ‘The Vampire Diaries’ thing I was like, ‘I’m really not sure if I want to do this; it’s this whole teen thing, which I’ve done in England.’ My agent was like, ‘Don’t be silly, you’ll make great money and everything.’ But I wasn’t sure.

It just makes me so happy that I can give someone a smile by just saying hello. That’s pretty cool.

If you want to survive the zombie apocalypse, you need to focus on increasing your stamina.

I used to love auditioning. I loved going into the room and meeting casting directors.

I never believe it when people claim they knew they wanted to be actors when they were 4 or 5 years old. I think that’s rubbish. When you’re that age, you just like showing off.

I think one of the reasons why The Walking Dead’ has been such a successful show is that Andrew Lincoln led that show so incredibly well, from the front, and treated everyone so amazingly, behind the scenes and in public.

‘Downton Abbey’ is my worst nightmare. I just hate that whole ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ thing, I think it’s really lazy and it doesn’t represent England, it’s this postcard view.

One of the reasons why I’m an actor is that I don’t want to do the same thing every day.