Alfred Molina tells film bosses to "get a thinner actor" if they ask him to lose weight.
The 61-year-old has enjoyed a prolific career, appearing in movies such as Spider-Man 2 and The Da Vinci Code. Although he's keen to keep booking jobs, as he's aged Alfred has realised there are some things he is not interested in.
"I’m getting older now. Certain roles are beyond me. If someone says we’ve got a great part for you but you’ll need to lose 30lb, I say, well, get a thinner actor," he told British newspaper The Guardian.
"I tell them, get the young ones to do the running and jumping, and I’ll do the shouting and pointing."
Alfred's latest film is Love Is Strange, in which he stars alongside John Lithgow as a couple who decide to marry after 39 years together. The decision costs Alfred's character George his job at a Catholic school and he's proud of the storyline - not least because it focuses on an "ordinary late-middle-age" couple rather than a young one, as many movies do.
The star has played a gay character before and believes that sexual orientation has no impact on how well actors can do a job.
"Love stories are often centred around the beginning, the discovering of each other. The other end of a long-term relationship is never viewed as particularly glamorous or sexy because it’s not about sex any more. When you’ve been with someone that long, it’s about companionship and security and comfort. But there’s an audience for these kinds of stories," he explained.
The actor is married to Jill Gascoine, who he met in 1982 and married four years later. In June 2013 she revealed she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and she has now moved into a home where she can be cared for. Alfred visits her often but says her illness has got "radically worse" so she doesn't always know who he is.
"You see flashes of the old person. That’s the heartbreaking part. You see those moments. You long for them. But they come less and less," he said.
In her movie Still Alice, Julianne Moore plays a linguistics professor who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. She has been lauded for her portrayal and is the best actress Oscar frontrunner, but Alfred won't be watching the film because he "doesn't think he could bear it".
