Stephen Frears

“I only watch films in the cinema. I'm old fashioned. I'm a lost cause.”

“I teach film directing, inasmuch as you can. It's not really possible to teach film direction, but I sit there as a sort of testimony of experience and know-how, I suppose.”

“Oh, I live in London. So, whether I like it or not, I am a member of the metropolitan elite. If I were anywhere else in the country, I'd hate me.”

“I remember reading the script for 'Dangerous Liaisons' and thinking that I could quite happily spend the rest of my life watching this film; the story and the writing were so wonderful.”

“I want my films to get audiences. I am not interested in making them just for myself.”

“As a director, my job is to protect. I protect scripts, actors, cameramen, designers.”

“This black hole that people talk about in my career in the '70s, when I didn't make any films - in retrospect, what I was doing was learning my job.”

“It never crossed my mind to make a film about Muhammad Ali or the Queen or any of them! They just come out of the blue.”

“When I was young, my family used to go and stay in hotels on the south coast in places like Devon. I loved those holidays because they were with my brothers, who were away at school; I really looked forward to them.”

“I have people around me. I have a semi-permanent crew. If I make a film, they just turn up. They don't even invite themselves. They don't ask if they can come - they just turn up!”

“Audiences aren't fools - their judgement really is important. And the true heroes of films are the investors. They take the risk, after all.”

“I'm a Republican, but I like the Queen. Like everyone else, I'm sentimental about the Queen.”

“I don't generally believe in people being knighted.”

“I like making films about different cultures. I'm interested in things that I've never encountered before. I try to put myself in the audience's position.”

“I have never been to Australia, because the flight terrifies me, but I think I would like to go there one day.”

“Cyclists are insane. You're going through the Alps, climbing up mountains. There's this circus around them. They're so tough. When they have a day off, they go out and cycle 100 miles.”

“I never thought I was very good at developing material. I grew up at the BBC where they sent you scripts.”

“I'm Jewish; I'm not religious at all, and I wouldn't pretend to know anything about Catholic politics.”

“I wouldn't want to make the same film every time. I get easily bored.”

“Truth is quite constricting, in a way. You endlessly see at the start of a film 'This is a true story'.”