Film industry is a pretty brutal business. If you fall too far behind, all of the perfectionism in the world won't save you.

I say to first time filmmakers that when they're asked, they should go to America as you're far more likely to get a chance.

To be a film-maker, you have to lead. You have to be psychotic in your desire to do something. People always like the easy route. You have to push very hard to get something unusual, something different.

The problem with being British... I don't know if it's me being British or being raised a strict Catholic, but you never really enjoy success.

A lot of film directors are quite scared of actors. They are a bit of a nightmare sometimes, but I like them. It looks like cunning, but you try to get extra things from them all the time, by stealth, by making them feel confident, so they trust you and you can push a bit.

Come a crisis, we want other people.

I'd love to do a modern-day musical that's full of original music. To get your contemporaries to sing and dance without looking foolish and for it to be transformational and magical and all those things a musical is supposed to be.