My childhood was influenced by the roles my father played in his movies. Whether Abraham Lincoln or Tom Joad in the 'Grapes of Wrath ' his characters communicated certain values which I try to carry with me to this day.

There's this index that tallies up how much your movies have made and if they haven't grossed a certain amount then you're not bankable. I know I'm not Will Smith but you know my ranking's pretty low. The only studio picture I've done is 'Zodiac ' and that didn't perform that well.

I've been involved with violent movies and then I've also said at a certain point 'I can't take it anymore. Please cut it.' You know you've got to respect the filmmaker and it's a really tough issue.

As far as writing I like watching bad movies. Nothing stops me in my tracks more than watching a great film like 'The Godfather' or 'Dog Day Afternoon' or 'The Graduate.' You watch one of those and you never want to write again. Whereas with bad movies it makes you think If that counts I certainly could write.

There certainly is no secret in that there are plenty of people who don't like plenty of my movies. Each one of my films is personal each one of my films is emotionally autobiographical. And I like directors who do that. With each one of my films I'm exploring one of my own issues and I try to expose myself a little in the film.

There are movies that require fantasy and slightly more fantastical acting. Lines that are good for certain movies in real life circumstances would be absolutely unbelievable things to really say and you would look at these people like they're freaks for conversing that way. But somehow for certain styles of movies it works and it seems fine.

Ultimately to have a career in movies to a certain extent certainly in England you can't sustain a career in just English movies.

Movies are something people see all over the world because there is a certain need for it.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

I had someone call me this morning telling me they had somebody who would only work a certain number of hours a week because if they worked too many hours a week then they couldn't get their government assistance. And that person has multiple cell phones and gets them new every month with new minutes.

Our son is in school now. You know he's six-and-a-half and so a big chunk of the day is taken up by school. So I'm hoping that I'll be able to certainly take him to school in the morning maybe pick him up in the afternoon and come back to work.

I actually think the whole concept of retirement is a bit stupid so yes I do want to do something else. There is this strange thing that just because chronologically on a Friday night you have reached a certain age... with all that experience how can it be that on a Monday morning you are useless?

I get up at sunrise. I'm a Buddhist so I chant in the morning. My wife and I sit and have coffee together but then it's list-making time. I have carpentry projects. We have roads we keep in repair. It's not back-breaking but it's certainly aerobic and mildly strenuous.

I certainly don't sit around in the morning making pancakes listening to Whitehouse or anything.

What is news? It's hard to quantify. Certainly news has changed completely and the morning shows are not really designed to bring you the news except to tell you what happened overnight and the rest of it is a kind of magazine mentality - a little bit of this a little bit of that. It's harder to be an educated and informed citizen.

If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning we feel a certain void. Nothing in the paper today we sigh.

And we've got to ask ourselves some very serious questions as to whether or not certain religious leaders in terms of raising money - I hate to bring this up - are pushing hot buttons.