Christopher Hampton

Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamp-post what it feels about dogs.

I like L.A., but I think what's changed is that the kinds of films I do, the mid-range dramatic film, has become an endangered species.

I'm ashamed to say the first play I saw at the Royal Court was mine.

I'm a big action junkie. I grew up on the '80s action movies - the bad ones and the good ones.

Another thing that freaks me out is time. Time is like a book. You have a beginning, a middle and an end. It's just a cycle.

But we need to show that the EU can modernise itself, can adapt to the needs of its citizens, can take their views into account. That will be our ambition for the UK Presidency.