Tom [Courtenay] and Albert Finney met Ron Harwood on the dresser, so that's how it started. It's a wonderful documentary. It's called Tosca's Kiss and Mr Hardwood told me about it when I asked him what the genesis was. It was made in 1983 and Verdi, who was rich and successful, toward the end of his life decided to build a mansion for himself in Milan, where he lived, and he stipulated that when he died opera singers and musicians - because he knew so many who were no longer playing at the Scala and some were poor - could live there.

I did some writing and bought a book, and have been working on that as a film to act and direct in.

It's true what they say about failure. You don't learn from success.

I think right now television is the best that it’s ever been, and I think that it’s the worst that film has ever been.

I lived below the official American poverty line until I was 31.

I don't like the fact that I have to get older so fast, but I like the fact that I'm aging so well.

In terms of the stars, the only ones I cast were Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins. I was in Los Angeles working and a lot of this took place on the telephone. I'd met Maggie [Smith] once and I'd come back-stage, which I'm usually loathe to do because as an actor you don't want people coming back because you want to get home [laughs].