I Envy People Who Can

In Terms Of The Stars, The Only Ones I Cast Were Billy Connolly And Pauline Collins. I Was In Los Angeles Working And A Lot Of This Took Place On The Telephone. I'd Met Maggie [smith] Once And I'd Come Back-stage, Which I'm Usually Loathe To Do Because As An Actor You Don't Want People Coming Back Because You Want To Get Home [laughs].

Now, I'm Simply Working With People I Want To Work With. I Just Want To Have Good Working Experiences And Let The Dice Fall Where They May.

The Truth Is, The Older You Get, The Less Variety Of Parts You Are Offered. If You're A Star And You've Spent Most Of Your Career Being Able To Take Your Pick Of The Litter, You Notice When The Offers Start To Diminish. You're Too Old To Play Leads, So You're Offered The Supporting Role - But Many Stars Don't Want To Make That Transition. They See It As A Sign Of Symbolic Impotence. And That The Audience Will No Longer Regard Them As A Star. I Love Acting, And I'm Not Going To Determine What I Do Based On What I Fear Other People Might Think. I Do What I Want To Do.

You Spend So Much Of Your Life Basing Yourself On What You Think Other People Think Of You. Then You Realise That Maybe One Of The Purposes Of Life Is Not To Care.

Tom [courtenay] And Albert Finney Met Ron Harwood On The Dresser, So That's How It Started. It's A Wonderful Documentary. It's Called Tosca's Kiss And Mr Hardwood Told Me About It When I Asked Him What The Genesis Was. It Was Made In 1983 And Verdi, Who Was Rich And Successful, Toward The End Of His Life Decided To Build A Mansion For Himself In Milan, Where He Lived, And He Stipulated That When He Died Opera Singers And Musicians - Because He Knew So Many Who Were No Longer Playing At The Scala And Some Were Poor - Could Live There.