For years all I seemed to be doing was lobbying politicians and others to persuade them that European culture needed movies, and that we had to protect it.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Why did I spend all these years playing boring Europeans? I was made for action movies.
European films were what it was about for me - the sensations I needed, the depth, the storytelling, the characters, the directors, and the freedom that you can't really find in American films.
To get noticed, I had to take my films in a space which was much more democratic in terms of cinema - the international film festivals.
I love European movies and I kind of grew up on European films.
My films are motivated by a keen interest in highlighting issues that affect marginalized populations who are caught in difficult circumstances.
It took a while for me to grasp that my colleagues believe I have made an impact on the history of cinema.
I spent a couple of years doing American films. I did a few.
I had no aspirations to be part of American cinema... I was really a Europe-based person, and those were the films I was inspired by.
When I went to university, I finally got exposed to European films, and they had a strong impact on me. I felt those films had a lot of things to say that weren't getting expressed in the films I was used to seeing.
Britain has nurtured me and made me able to make movies that have travelled round the world.
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