I always say to people when I'm trying to get something going, bringing on other producers or other directors, "You can think of 95 reasons why not to make a movie. You've got to address why you want to make the movie and get it done. Just do it." I tend to live by that rule.

I'm very competitive. I just go with what engages or fascinates me in my work and that's it. I have no definition; I just love to do it.

As I'm getting older, I want to make sure every film I do really counts.

You step forward and make it real for a start. You choose a sensible moment in history. Funnily enough, England was bankrupt and the moment is the death of Richard The Lionheart... Richard takes an arrow in the neck collecting a small debt from a small castle on his way home from the Crusades because he's penniless.

Some actors - you work with them once and don't even think about working with them again.

Some people like to do everything always the same thing. That's another way: To do the same thing.

You don't really know what you're going to get until you're actually in Abbey Road. That's where I did all the music, in The Beatles' place.