Most of the soap operas always use the Christmas special to kill huge quantities of their characters. So they have trams coming off their rails, or cars slamming into each other or burning buildings. It's a general clean-out.

The business of life is learning that you can't lay down the terms.

When you make your first film, there is a hell of a lot to think about, and you've got to have a gut understanding of your material.

I like people who don't accept boundaries. Like Florence Nightingale. And Napoleon or Louis XIV, though I'm not sure how much I'd have liked to meet them. I admire people who aren't circumscribed by circumstance.

Heroism is accessible. Happiness is more difficult.

Musicians are probably the most uncomfortable people in themselves in the world. Happiness, I think, only exists when you're a child and once you go past 11, unfortunately it's gone.

I'm not a Man U fan at all, but I can't get enough of Rooney. What a joy to watch!

Anyway, he and I worked on the script together, and I must say he was a joy to work with. Very enthusiastic.