I've already felt that I want to direct. Being an executive producer is like the best job in the world because you make all these executive decisions and then you leave the money to other people. You don't have to be on set and counting beans.

See, what you're meant to do when you have a mid-life crisis is buy a fast car, aren't you? Well, I've always had fast cars. It's not that. It's the fear that you're past your best. It's the fear that the stuff you've done in the past is your best work.

If you've got a huge Hollywood star in your film, they're getting $32 million, and everyone else gets their bus fare.

I had a very bad time with acid. I did that classic thing of looking in the mirror by mistake and seeing the devil. But I took it several times, because you always think that next time you might have the wonderful time that everyone else is having.

I think the shocking thing to discover is the owls are not stupid and very feral, very hard to train.

I knew it was going to be enormous because of the number of people who bought the books, but, to be honest, I never thought it would be bigger than Bond. Never in a million years.

When you are new to the business, you think if you give a really bad performance, that's one they will print. You will be judged. You just have to be brave.