Having a leading man who is actually prettier than you are is quite upsetting.

Most films seem to be about a man and a women falling in love at some point and once you pass forty-five, it's almost disgusting to fall in love.

I'm not one of those famous people flying round the world emoting over every catastrophe. I'm too feeble.

I mean, if you're being directed very precisely by somebody who has admiration and who's really smart, it's great. If you're being told what to do by a nincompoop - and luckily that hasn't happened very often - it can be very frustrating.

Exoticism can give you an edge: it makes people assume you're cleverer than you are and gives you the upper hand.

Seeing The English Patient is wonderfully draining, but imagine acting in it for six months.

At school, I always wanted to belong to a gang, and no one would have me. So I'd have make my own gang, but with everybody else's leftovers.