Toby Jones used to get "upset" by the focus on his appearance
The 58-year-old actor started out on the stage before carving out a career in film in the 1990s and he's admitted chatter about his looks used to get him down but he refused to let it distract him from his work
26 March 2025
He told the Sunday Times newspaper: "When I started making films, or being asked to be in films, it was the first time I'd ever thought of myself as short.
"Before that I'd never thought of myself as short. I was constantly having my appearance described to me, and around people who talked all the time about their appearance ...
"I've got to be aware of my appearance but not be distracted by it ... In the old days, it used to upset me because it wouldn't always be flattering and then it felt oddly irrelevant. Nowadays, I think there's less of that because I think people know what I look like."
Toby went on to insist he's still baffled by talk about his appearance but he no longer worries about it.
He added: "On the one hand, people are constantly telling me that I'm this everyman actor, that I can disappear. I play people who are unremarkable who suddenly become remarkable.
"I find that hard to square with people constantly telling me how extraordinary I am to look at. Maybe I'm both those things some of the time. I don't know and so I've stopped worrying about it."
It comes after the 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' star previously admitted he didn't get into acting to become famous.
He told the Guardian newspaper: "People project their own ambition on to you. 'Why don't you have the same kind of ambition?' I'm very ambitious. But I don't necessarily have the same ambition as someone else.
"I think, after a certain age, fame is a puerile ambition. I don't feel famous, but I feel famous enough to answer the question.
"How many times do you need to be told, it's not the answer? The culture constantly tells you, doesn't it? It doesn't bring happiness! And, guess what, it doesn't."
Toby explained he loves some aspects of his career and dislikes others. However, he admits his attitude has evolved over the years, adding: "Talking to friends, actor friends, who have survived this long and are working this long, I'm really aware of the bits of the job I like and the bits of the job I don't like. And those lists change a bit."
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