I know that the arts are important. I'm not denying that, but I can't associate myself with all the claptrap that goes on around it.

Shakespeare's so bloody difficult, and I don't like failure. You can fail on film, but there's nobody actually there in the flesh to watch you failing.

I'm most suspicious of scripts that have a lot of stage direction at the top of the page sunrise over the desert and masses of a whole essay before you get to the dialogue.

When I direct I try to keep it a unique design of my own. Naturally you're influenced.

I'm not a health freak. I just work out every day.

I do the best I can - I know my way around [Russian method acting pioneer] Stanislavski, but I can't take myself seriously like that. I respect people who do it, of course. I just think I'm lucky to still be working at 73. You reach a point in life where you just think, "Show up, do your job, make sure the cheque's on the way," and that's it. I'm not hungry to do anything more, really.

I was bullied as a boy - lots of kids are, but hopefully most of us get on with our lives and grow up.