One of Dickens' biggest influences was the growth of London as a Victorian city, and the extremes being created as it expanded.

It's interesting, the worse things get in cities, the tougher that cities get, the more brutal the humor is. The tougher things people face, the darker the sense of humor gets and I find that incredibly optimistic.

Actors are steeped in a world of agents and where the next job is coming from and what are their expenses and what is the hotel like. You want to take them out of that world and dump them into another world, so that when you meet them on the screen they don't seem like the guy who was in two others movies that year.

One of the traditions of film acting is a sort of mumbled realism. Be minimal, and do less. 'Even less than that.'

Although I behave in a quite reserved way in my personal life, give me a stage and I'll be as flamboyant as I can.

I mean suspense, twists are almost impossible these days.

The awards season gives a chance for independent films to have a bit of longevity in the press and the media.