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

Films are made all over the world all the time and only a thin slice of that product is Hollywood.

I make films because I am endlessly fascinated by people. I'm fascinated immediately to know about the lives that are going on around me. That is what drives me. And that is because everybody matters, everybody is there to be cared about, everybody is interesting and everybody is the potential central character in a story. Judging people is not acceptable.

The way an actor is trained doesn't ultimately have much bearing on my work. I'm interested in the actor as artist.

I'm developing the stuff all the time. There's a film in my head. I'm imagining a film.

I feel very much ideologically, politically if you like, and emotionally part of the European cinema.

My work requires acting at its most committed - it demands actors of enormous resilience, but also intelligence and wit. It doesn't work for narcissistic or selfish actors.