Most of all I don't want to be bored. That's why I'd rather do something that has some sort of ambition, that risks failing, rather than make safer, more comfortable choices.

The tabloids operate in an amoral parallel universe where the bottom line is selling newspapers.

I happen to have a public profile. Ditto newspaper editors. It's a result of what I do, not an end.

I'm an entertainer. I don't go round saying I'm a paragon of virtue, so that is clearly not in the public interest.

In 1975, I left the burning city of Beirut for the quiet insanity of England. To say that short, frail and wispy 15-year-old me didn't fit in would be such an understatement as to be a joke.

For me, my preference for comedy is grounding it in the psychology of the character, and not just kind of making faces. Even when it's a crazy character, grounded comedy resonates more with people because it doesn't look like you're watching someone do vaudeville. No offense to vaudeville.

Keenser is a smart alien. I try to bring a little bit of comedy into it, but he's a great thinker.

Nothing is a better icebreaker than a great joke.