There is a great tradition of independent filmmaking in the U.S. that I absolutely respect. There's some wonderful stuff that comes out in this country against all the odds.

The good thing from my perspective is that nobody puts any pressure on me to say what it's going to be. The backers accept that they don't know what they are going to get.

Some deeply untrusting actors - the kind that need to know exactly what's what and are completely insecure - might be quite good within the parameters of a certain sort of acting.

I've walked out of films. But for every film I've ever walked out of, I've probably walked out of 500 plays.

I think Michael Caine is a perfectly good actor but it's obvious he's not going to be in one of my films.

The problem with the British film industry is the nervousness and insecurity about - and genuflection toward - Los Angeles.

One of the reasons the whole Hollywood way of making films wouldn't work for me is because the way I operate would be anathema to anyone who wants to hold a job down in Beverly Hills.