The thrill I got discovering Buster Keaton when I was growing up was so exciting. He was one of the greats.

All humour is critical, you know? You make stupid jokes. I mean, stupidity is an infirmity, isn't it?

Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.

I think it's because in America you always get the sense that if you fail, you can just pack up your things and go somewhere else and try again. But in England, it's so geographically small that if somebody succeeds here, it reduces your chances of succeeding.

The Americans are so much more positive. They are much more in love with success. In Britain, they're a fairly envious bunch, and they love it if you fail.

Most of the bad taste I've been accused of has been generic bad taste; it's been making fun of an idea as opposed to a person.

When I was a child and I was upset about something, my mother was not capable of containing that emotion, of letting me be upset but reassuring me, of just being with me in a calming way. She always got in a flap, so I not only had my own baby panics, fears and terrors to deal with, but I had to cope with hers, too. Eventually I taught myself to remain calm when I was panicked, in order not to upset her. In a way, she had managed to put me in charge of her. At 18 months old, I was doing the parenting.