There are only two kinds of people who are successful at this social media thing: those who are funny and those who get real.

Women in Hollywood have no male allies. There are some who pretend to be on our side, but yeah, not really. They may say the right thing because, after all, they're liberals, and that's a public image they'd like to keep up.

Truth: I loathe the idea of being hired because of my gender, and I shudder at the thought that one day I show up on set, and half of the crew thinks, 'Here comes the quota hire.'

The thing about TV is that it's great work for directors because the responsibility is not ours at all. In a movie, you choose a movie, and everybody points his or her finger at you afterward. It doesn't matter how much influence you had on the script, how much decision you had, or the fact that you didn't have final cut.

I've pitched movies to all of the major studio heads in my time.

When I first made 'Green Street' and I was considered a hot director, I pitched everybody, but there was always this feeling that I was being underestimated in the room. I pitch TV, and nobody underestimates me. They literally think you could be the next whoever, and that is a very cool thing.

In terms of writing and developing, TV is very open because TV needs stories. They need new pitches, and they need new ideas. They don't always take the risk for new ideas, but they are certainly open to it. They can't have enough people come in and pitch to them. It doesn't matter how they look or what gender they are.

Although I'm aware of how under-represented we are, I sometimes forget how desperately Arabs who aren't in the film business wish for better stories about us.

If women choose guerilla style filmmaking or new media productions, etc., all power to them. But if they're there because 'Big Hollywood' won't let them in, then we're moving further and further away from equality.

As someone who grew up in Europe, I don't look at TV and automatically think of a primetime network series, created by a staff of writers. I think of 90-minute movies that can break talents out or a three 90-minutes-an-episode mini series that can introduce a fantastic new series like 'The Blechtley Circle.'

2015 was an interesting year for me. After finally getting back behind the camera at the end of the summer to shoot the CW's 'Arrow,' I found myself a couple of months later in a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, trying to convince half a dozen security guards to let me make my EEOC appointment despite my expired driver's license.

It's almost comical how un-liberal liberal Hollywood is when it comes to fighting gender and racial bias.

One of my short films was about a boxer.

Football is a great environment for a movie because there is such passion for it and so much adrenaline.

Dominic West is one of the greatest actors.

I'm not a very girlie girl.

You can't find jewelry on me.

I focus every day on my career.

My brother took me to my first football match when I was five, and I quickly acquired a passion for it: once you've walked into a football ground, you know there's nothing comparable to it.

There was a choice of being a director who's more familiar with the technicality of doing a movie, like learning about the camera and filters and setup, or being a director who can actually talk to actors. And I always wanted to be an actor's director.

The great thing about a reboot is, you can learn from the past if you care enough.

'Deadpool' is massively successful because they made a very unique movie. That uniqueness and originality, try to imitate that. Not, 'How about let's try to do 'Deadpool' on a train.'

I really like Greg Rucka's work. I loved 'Lazarus,' and I loved 'Stumptown.'

I don't like seeing talented storytellers ruled by fear.

Every cliche about kids is true; they grow up so quickly, you blink and they're gone, and you have to spend the time with them now. But that's a joy.

Yeah, well, I finally stopped smoking for good.

In real life, wolves will do anything to avoid contact with mankind.

I'm a big believer in acts of kindness, no matter how small.

It's an ongoing joy being a dad.

I try to stay fit. I try and do something every day but I don't jog. My body hates jogging.

Some mornings you wake up and think, gee I look handsome today. Other days I think, what am I doing in the movies? I wanna go back to Ireland and drive a forklift.

For every successful actor or actress, there are countless numbers who don't make it. The name of the game is rejection. You go to an audition and you're told you're too tall or you're too Irish or your nose is not quite right. You're rejected for your education, you're rejected for this or that and it's really tough.

For all of nature's wonder and beauty, it is also hostile and unpredictable.

I'm Irish, so I'm used to odd stews. I can take it. Just throw a lot of carrots and onions in there and I'll call it dinner.

I love doing my own stunts but it's hard.

I think I survived by running away some. Running away to work.

But let's just say, I'm Irish. I grew up in the 1950s. Religion had a very tight iron fist.

A sex symbol? A symbol of sex? I don't think that I am a sex symbol, although it's very flattering. I'm 59, now, so I think I'm possibly past my sell-by date. I think I am.

America has been very, very good to me.

Yes, I'm Catholic; I'm proud of it. But I had lots of Protestant friends.

I think there must be some other life forms, even if they're microscopic.

I offer my performance as prayer for someone I've worked with as an actor or someone who has died. The image that comes into my head as I walk to the stage, I offer that performance up for that person.

I'm constantly reading books on God or the absence of God and atheism.

Indeed I regard the enduring support which I have received over the years from all sections of the community in Ballymena as being more than sufficient recognition for any success which I may have achieved as an actor.

I love working with children and this young boy, Thomas Sangster, is quite a remarkable young actor. He raises your game, you know. He certainly raised mine.

I've made many films and only a few times I've played real people.

People ask me if I ever feel outside the Hollywood loop, and I never do, because both of us do a lot of theatre, so it's great for New York and it's also half-way between Europe and the west coast, so it's the best of both worlds.

As you know, Hollywood loves to pigeonhole all the actors and actresses, and suddenly I got 're-pigeonholed' as an action actor.

There seems to be more opportunities for old guys like me to do a little fighting and running because the lead characters also require a bit of depth and maturity and gravitas that one is likely to acquire doing drama all those years.

I'm very much a homebody.