I always like to arrive at the airport early to enjoy breakfast and lounge about so that when I get on the plane all my travel fever has disappeared.

What does she do?" "She's a producer." Of course, in Los Angeles this doesn't mean much more than "she's a member of the human race.

I think it's always a challenge to adapt something from one medium to another - a novel into a film or a play into a movie or whatever.

In my defence I can only say that her past, too, like mine, like everyone's in fact, was a locked box. Occasionally we allow people a peep, but generally only at the top level. The darker streams of our memories we negotiate alone.

We live a life that is often spent in crowds - parties, festivals and first nights - so it's nice to avoid them.

I envy people who can think, 'No, I'm not going to work today' when they have a huge pile of deadlines stacking up.

Maggie Smith has a unique sense of comedy, based on a somewhat ironic view of real life, making it both funnier and more sad. But perhaps her greatest ability, or at least the one that most intrigues me, is how she can convey deep and powerful emotion without a trace of sentimentality.