Alan Parker

Making a film is so hard that if you don't have your main actors going along with the ride with the rest of the crew it can make your life very difficult.

Rain is also very difficult to film, particularly in Ireland because it's quite fine, so fine that the Irish don't even acknowledge that it exists.

Period recreation is very difficult unless you make a black-and-white movie.

It's good to like yourself, and that only comes from hard work, from doing. But vanity is dangerous; it can trip you badly.

I love Hindi films.

I studied international relations and economics at the University of Virginia. I paid my way by working as a bartender in the summer and at three part-time jobs during the year.