I love watching the Bond movies obviously and I grew up reading the books as a kid. I've always loved them because of that.

We're trying to learn from [Olympic] Beijing, which could be very intimidating. We've learned to expect it's power, it majesty and that it completes a cycle of certain types of shows... I don't think any nation could do anything on that scale. We haven't got that money, and I don't think anybody would have the appetite for that kind of expenditure and that kind of control, so we're going to try and do something a bit more intimate and try and start again... start a new cycle for these kind of ceremonies.

What you do is take the power [popularity] gives you - which is very temporary and minor but significant - and use it. The danger is that you use it on a vanity project that no one wants to watch.

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.

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 want people to leave the cinema feeling that something's been confirmed for them about life.

I find that people find a way out of misery through humor and it's humor that's often unacceptable to people who are not in quite such a state of misery.