“I was watching Monster’s Ball, which is a fabulous movie. It’s just a little gem: beautifully shot, and shot in a way I never would have done.”

The challenge, really, on any new film is to try to avoid that and achieve a few moments that aren’t cliche.

Especially living in the South of France.

Where you can be in their shoes and therefore be more involved if they’re people that you recognize.

It’s the sort of subject that always interests me: jealousy and the language of suspicion and guilt. I think it interests people.

Always, with any movie that I do, I have a book of ideas that I’ve heard, or seen, or whatever, and I always try to incorporate it in the film.

Well, I think just the fact that you are making your first film is a huge step.

You have to invent a book of rules of what you can do and what you can’t do.

I looked at Brief Encounter very closely, to be honest.

I’ve always been interested in films where you can identify with the actors.

Their every instinct – and I have to say this is without exception – is to iron out the bumps, and It’s always the bumps that are the most interesting stuff.

Foxes was a movie that didn’t do a lot of business but it didn’t do too badly critically and eventually they offered me other things.

I think that there are points where you become so close to an actor,

The interesting thing was that next I tried a film called Star Man, which Michael Douglas was producing.

Somebody said that I’m a bit like a sponge, grabbing things here and there, soaking stuff up. [As a director] you have to be, really.

The danger is that if you have a bunch of ideas that you forget to use.

If you are prepared to make a fool of yourself for them then you usually get that back.

I’ve always been a good ball-striker, but if you’re not a great putter, you’re not going to win a lot.

I generally mark my ball with a quarter, but sometimes I’ll use a Canadian one-dollar coin.

When your hands are cold, and you’re hitting with old, low-quality irons – my first one was a Merlin model with a green shaft – you learn what to do to hit the ball solid.

Some scenes you juggle two balls, some scenes you juggle three balls, some scenes you can juggle five balls.

He’s passing the ball like Idi Amin.

Everything my mother made had to cook for 80 hours, and when she made matzoh balls she didn’t know fluffy. Everything sank.

Villains are a ball. People have been laughing at me for 50 years, so I love to sit in the back of the theater and listen to them hate me.

The only thing in this world that gives orders is balls.