I’ve been nominated four times, never won. And the whole world is going, ‘Why hasn’t Winslet won one?’ That’s why I’m doing it. “Schindler’s Bloody List,” “The Pianist,” Oscars coming out of their ass.
That’s what life is, it’s the small struggles. You walk down the street for half an hour, you see half an hour of drama. You don’t need convoluted plot lines. You don’t need long-lost brothers. You don’t need it’s set on the future; it’s set on the moon.
Everyday life is interesting enough, whether it be in an office or being ignored on the set of something supposedly more glamorous.
Our challenge with “The Office” and “Extras” was to get it completely scripted but to find a cast that could make it look like they were saying it for the first time.
When you get back into the editing suite in the cold light of day, the written stuff is better.
A world without any lies at all is not a good world, because it’s artless and because there are no white lies, no flattery.
I think what makes us human is those choices – whether to tell the truth or not.
I still see myself as a bit of a cottage industry. Being in a room creating stuff and seeing if anyone wants it, as opposed to going to work for someone.
You try to make characters you care about, and I think realism helps. Even though this is a high concept, the characters have got to be real.
I can’t find someone funny whom I don’t like. Hitler told great jokes. I didn’t find it funny at all.
I think that’s the fundamental thing – you can go anywhere you like as long as you’re following a character that the audience likes and understands.
Of all the disciplines involved in making anything – TV, film or anything I do – the writing is the most valuable commodity.
I’m a failed pop star. I always sneak a song into everything I do.
There are good and bad critics like good or bad artists. A good critic says why they didn’t like it. A bad critic gives it away that they don’t like you as a person. I quite like that as well, because it means that I’ve won.
I think Hollywood’s gotten more reactionary and conservative over the years, because there’s no longer art in Hollywood. Art suffers in Hollywood.
I want to get all the nations of the world together, it doesn’t matter what colour or creed, and I want to sit them down and say: “Guys, The Office is still available on DVD.”
Hollywood is responsible for some of the greatest and worst movies of all time!
You can drive 1,000 miles across America and find yourself, whereas if you drive a few miles from Slough you’re in London anyway, or you hit Wales and you’re in another country! Also, wherever you are in England it’s still raining.
I’m not a film snob at all. I much prefer a really good Hollywood blockbuster than a thought-provoking art house movie because entertainment is sort of where it’s at.
There are so many films now where you know the story is a supporting role to the visual effects.