Every character I do is something special to me. Every time you score with a great character relationship in a movie, it becomes your baby.
I have realised that at the end of the day, I have to detach from my films, just do my job, and move on.
I don't think I can play a role without falling in love with something about her; even the most despicable people who I have portrayed had some aspect of them which I found beautiful.
'Martin' is my favorite film of mine and 'Knightriders' a close second.
I had always felt deep down that I owned the characters. Much as I adored and cherished the work of my actors, I felt that they were cast to do and be what I could not physically do or be.
I often find myself quoting from Victor Hugo after one of my theatrical ventures. 'Now that my play is a failure,' he once said, 'I find I love it all the more.' I first quoted that after 'Square Rounds' at the Olivier in 1992.
Creators love creations before they exist.
It's hard being the guy that brings in a song, because you're very, you know, it can be something that you get too sensitive about.
I don't know if a novelist ever fully detaches him- or herself from what they wrote and the way they wrote it. I can watch 'Presumed Innocent' again and again, and I will always be bothered by the same things that will never bother anybody else.
Asking myself, 'Is this any good?' is pointless. It just slows down my writing, and I can't tell anyway. It's always the paragraphs I loved most, the ones I tenderly polished and re-read with pride, that my editor will suggest cutting.
Interestingly enough, there is a really different dynamic when you're directing something that somebody else has written compared to when you're directing something that you've written. And there's a good and a bad side to it. I think the bad side is that you never feel the same level of connection to the material - you just don't.
I love my sculptures, and I was lucky I had them for 50 years because no one would look at them, and I really liked having them around.
I'm an artist and I get very attached to my own little ditties.
I'm not fond of any of my films in an intimate way, but Gregory's Girl would be number 4 on my list.
With independent film, as an actor, you have more involvement - it's very much more connected. It's not just like I'm showing up and there's another actor on the call sheet; you're very attached to it.
