Martin Compston Quotations

I don't regret giving up football for acting. I love football and am very proud I played for Morton. But the truth is, I wasn't going to get much higher in football. At the same time, I sensed I could go somewhere in acting. I'm 28, which is young for acting, whereas in football I'd now be near the end of my career.

When I was young, running with a gang was a cool thing to do; that's how you get popular; that's how you get the girls.

I've been lucky enough to work with some great directors, and I don't want to throw that away by doing one big horrible big budget film.

The last time I threw a punch was in primary school, and that was probably a slap.

I'm a lucky boy. Never wanted for anything; new tracksuit, new pair of football boots. I had a happy childhood.

A lot of the films I do go down brilliantly critically and win awards, but not a lot of people see them.

Acting has been really good me. You end up in some wild places, and I love adventure.

There was a lot of pressure on me when I was 18, 19 to move to America. I went out for a couple of weeks and hated it. I thought I could go out my mind. You could really see how people could go off the rails.

When I was growing up, it was the guys who were hardest at school who got the prettiest girls. It's a status thing.

I'm in the very fortunate position as a young actor to not have to take the first job that comes along. I'm not motivated by money at this stage in my life, I'm motivated by work.