I was always obsessed with finding truly researched images to add authenticity, out of that came something totally contemporary and modern. Research is very key to my process because over and over again, reality provides more interesting images than you could have invented.

Great acting is all about being in the moment, being in the present tense.

I would say L.A. is more polite than London - it's a very careful place. People talk a lot in code.

Films about the English monarchy, they tend to have a lavishness, sumptuous imagery, it's all very posh and rich.

The irony of a director going to film festivals is you never get to see any of the films.

The thing that fascinates me is that the way I came to film and television is extinct. Then there were gatekeepers, it was prohibitively expensive to make a film, to be a director you had to be an entrepreneur to raise money.

Actors enjoy being treated as ordinary people.