But you talk to most filmmakers and it is six, seven, eight years trying to get things off the ground. It is incredible really.

Sometimes the songs you think will be best don't turn out to be best.

Strangely enough, the first time I tried to read [The Lord of the Rings] I was on holiday in Florida. I dropped it in the pool my first day there. If that's not a Pippin thing to do, I don't know what is.

Hobbits are a lot like Scots. It’s all about nature and enjoying their land, which is a very Scottish thing.

Acting, music, painting... it's very subjective. So what I might think is a great actor, you might think is not a very good actor at all.

I like people like Ani DiFranco, a band called Elbow, of course John Lennon, George Harrison, Barry White. I have a lot of different influences and hopefully they all come together and make some sense.

People are scared to make something that doesn't look like another film that made a lot of money. It means we get 'Four Weddings And A Funeral' made again and again.