What got you started?
Watching a wonderful TV broadcast of Giorgio Strehler's A Servant of Two Masters from the Piccolo theatre in Milan when I was 12 or 13. It didn't make me want to become a director straight away; I don't think I really knew what a director was. But it became a template in my head for what theatre could be. Most theatre is fantastically boring.
What was your big breakthrough?
The Duchess of Malfi at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, in 1980, with Helen Mirren, Bob Hoskins and Pete Postlethwaite. A great bunch of people – and it won awards.
What are the challenges of directing Shakespeare today?
Making it both meaningful and accessible. I went into directing Shakespeare pretty blind. I was asked to do Titus Andronicus at the Bristol Old Vic [in 1978]. I discovered that when the play was first written, it was a huge hit. I thought: "That's what I'll do then – I'll see if I can make this 400-year-old play a huge hit." And I did.
You've been working in the US. What differences have you noticed?
American actors are eager to please. There's no cynicism or sense of entitlement – and they have an energy you don't always get in the UK. They'll come to an audition with six pieces prepared.
What have you sacrificed for your art?
I don't think I've sacrificed anything. I've made choices: on one curious day in December 1990, I was offered the chance to take over as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company; then my agent rang and said I'd been asked to make a film of Wuthering Heights with Ralph Fiennes. I chose the RSC, of course, which meant I took a particular path. But I don't regret it.
What's the biggest myth about directing?
That we're puppet-masters. That's just bollocks. The great thing about actors is that they can do it without you. Directing is about guiding their creative impulses: sometimes editing them, sometimes challenging them.
What work of art would you most like to own?
Anything by [Danish artist] Vilhelm Hammershøi. His work contains both drama and stillness.
What's the worst thing anyone ever said about you?
When it comes to nasty things, I have 20/20 amnesia. When you're running a big company like the RSC, every day 40 or 50 press cuttings land on your desk. If you started worrying about what they said, it would drive you mad.
What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?
The wonderful French actor-director Jean-Louis Barrault took me under his wing when I was very young. He used to say: "Feel passion for everything, but cling to nothing." For a director, that's a useful thing to bear in mind.
In short
Born Chichester, 1950
Career: Was artistic director and chief executive of the RSC 1990-2003. Also directed operas and musicals, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Così Fan Tutte. Directs The Tempest at Theatre Royal, Bath (01225 448844), 23 August to 8 September.
High point: "The Return of Ulysses at the Aix-en-Provence festival in 2000."
Low point: "Leaving the RSC – it felt like leaving home."
