At age 11, I went to a Jewish school. I speak Yiddish. I'm Church of England Protestant. My father was Catholic, and my mother was Protestant. My wife is a Muslim.

I'm always slightly envious of people who become extremely rich without anyone knowing who the hell they are, like financiers.

I am often asked which of my films has come closest to my own ideal of performance, and I always answer, 'Educating Rita.'

I'm hoping there's an afterlife. As you get older, you hope even more fervently.

I spent my entire time reading books and going to the cinema, just to escape.

Nobody's a criminal to himself. I never play a criminal like a bad person.

I prefer to remake flops. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was a remake of a flop, and The Quiet American is a remake of a flop.