The Americans are just more enthusiastic and more likely to engage in hyperbole.

Some actors, I think, want to feel that they are as creative as the writer. And the answer is, frankly, they're not.

I think humor is incredibly positive, I think it is life advancing. There's medical research to show that it improves your antibodies. It's all about sense and perspective.

What have the Romans ever done for us?

This is the extraordinary thing about creativity: If just you keep your mind resting against the subject in a friendly but persistent way, sooner or later you will get a reward from your unconscious.

I was always a sports nut but I've lost interest now in whether one bunch of mercenaries in north London is going to beat another bunch of mercenaries from west London.

I love having different cultures around, but when the parent culture kind of dissipates, you're left thinking, 'Well, what's going on?'