“There’s a lot of directors who are very good and bright technically but who seem to be, in some ways, terrified of actors and that can come out in an intolerance or an authoritarian streak or a lot of shouting or not wanting to hear their ideas and so forth.

“David’s very open to anyone’s ideas and anyone’s way of interpreting. If you look at his movies - and there’s a wide range of types of actors and actresses in them - what unifies the acting in general is that actors tend to give their best or close to their best performances when they work with him.

“You see this time and time again I think: Ralph Fiennes, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Walken, Keira Knightley certainly.

“I know that the three movies I’ve done with him are probably my best work or close to it, and I think there’s a reason for that. He understands and likes actors.”