In the first earthquake scene [ in "2012"], there was only a limo and a plane. That was it. There was nothing else there, so everything had to be created in the computer, and that's always very difficult.

It's very, very rare you find something really original and also because a lot of original stuff, most of the time has no chance, because it's so expensive to make something famous or put it in people's head that it's the one to see, it's like awareness has to be almost like at 80% or 90% if you make an expensive summer movie and that's very hard to do with anything an the White House naturally is in itself some sort of a trademark.

["2012"] it was really more about the subject matter, and to do a modern retelling of Noah's Ark, a flood story.

I've had the pleasure to work with a lot of very great actors. And they're too different to say who's the best.

When it comes to action, I'd say Mel Gibson and Will [Smith] were great.

I think sport in general affects what people see in movies. I always try to explain to people in Hollywood that we have to make movies more like sport because, in sport, everything can happen and it's so much better than movies in some ways.

Actually, when I did "10,000 B.C.," in the middle of production, I wanted to quit my job, because everything went wrong.