I think Pan is a superhero movie; I mean, the kid flies in the end.

I'm quite spontaneous in my decisions often. Your career is kind of what happens whilst you're busy developing other screenplays, and so it came out of the blue.

My first cut that I showed the studio was probably 2hrs 20min.

There's good art and there's bad art. A lot of action films are bad art, but Paul Greengrass showed us with the Bourne films that it's possible to make an action film with a political, social conscience.

I see the job of directing as being one of creating the right atmosphere, creating an environment where people can realize their full potential.

I like the idea of doing something outside my comfort zone.

I went to comprehensive school in North London and left without any qualifications [diploma]. And I was doing bits of acting and improv in a drama club in the evenings. Then I discovered you didn't need qualifications to go to art school, you just needed a body of work.