My heroes, growing up, were people like Andy Kaufman and Groucho Marx and people that very rarely drop the persona.

Being shocking and cruel is a commerce. It's an actual valued skill now. The thing that really annoys me, the perception of it is that it takes intelligence, and it doesn't.

The movies I make don't take place in reality.

I do live a very Hugh Beaumont existence. I'm up every morning, taking my kids to school and all that, which obviously does interest me. But then it's taking meetings with goofballs and auditioning for crap, and then I spend a lot of time on the road.

I just fooled around in front of the camera and earned money for it. Every policeman, every soldier, every nurse - they all do more for society. I just rent my face.

I treated myself to a £700 Chloe bag after one of my first acting jobs. Then my friends pointed out that, for the same money, I could buy a flight to India. So I took it back."

If Congress wanted to intervene with the Federal Reserve, well, we created the Federal Reserve. We could uncreate it. But would you want Congress regulating the money supply? We'd have drowned in inflation, or gone bankrupt, decades ago.

I pay people very, very well - probably more than I have to. But that costs me less money in the long run because I'm not having to constantly train somebody. I pay them enough that they don't go seeking a higher scale at the next restaurant.