Q: Did your acting in Shakespeare at the RSC influence your career?
A: Absolutely! I think that when I had the great fortune to begin my career as a theatre actor. I was made to work tremendously hard and very often during the week, in part of the repertoire of course, I would be playing four different characters by Shakespeare that were beautifully written, exquisite characters, so that made me have an appetite for stretching and altering myself. Defining the difference between each role, so , yes my wonderful theatre experience with Shakespeare left me with an appetite for variety which I still enjoy.

Q: Did working with Martin Scorsese teach you the importance of body language in acting and where was "Prince of Persia" filmed?
A: "Prince of Persia" was filmed here in Morocco, the film used a great deal of Moroccan artisanship and film crew and I sincerely hope that it is going to be a big success and it will reinforce and strengthen Morocco's place as a great film making country and I hope it will continue to attract to Morocco which I personally y love, film crews, investors and producers. It is a glorious environment in which to work. The important reason for why I hope it is a success is that it will attract further investment and film companies here.

I appeared in "Prince of Persia" immediately after working with Martin Scorsese on a beautiful psychological thriller called "Shutter Island" and Marty and I and other members of the caste were able to watch beautiful films from the 1950's in America which is where our film was set. It is impossible to travel back in time, but cinema can help us, and that is the miracle of cinema. We can watch the revolution seen through the eyes of Eisnenstein and we can see the American era of Macarthyism through the films made in 1950. So, Leonardo and I and the other actors, through Marty's kindness were able to see for ourselves how people moved and how men and women moved very differently during those days. How the wonderful costume designs would help us understand how to move in this way and Marty never tells and actor or actress how to move his or her body but he allows you to assimilate the form of vocabulary for your body and also my characters always dictate different body language from me and when I understand the character's body rhythm I know I am getting close to the heart of the matter. Again it is a perfect collaboration which is Marty's forte, he provides the wonderful information and you’d better use the information Marty gives you because it is the best information possible.

Q: How would you describe your role in the film «Shutter Island»?
A: It is quite difficult to describe my role in "Shutter Island. Let me try and do it technically because I can't tell you the story, it is full of surprises and mystery, but if you can imagine acting inside a character who is at the same time acting. There are two aspects of my performance: one is the doctor and the other is the doctor whilst he is acting. It was actually infront of the camera which is so perceptive and examines us so closely. When playing the doctor I always had to keep in mind that this is not him this is him pretending to be someone, it was a very interesting experience.

There is a huge similarity between Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg in that quite simply they are both geniuses. Martin Scorsese is an actor and he sometimes appears in films to great effect, and therefore being an experienced actor, he realises that there are perhaps limits to what the actor can do and he knows that there are, understandably limits and he should not ask an actor to go beyond them because this could be dangerous, uncomfortable and unproductive. Steven Spielberg on the other hand is not an actor and he thinks there are no limits to what an actor can do. He thinks that actors can do anything, so under his very courteous guidance he pulls the actor beyond his known limits. He does this very caringly and I worked with him on "Schindler's List ". The context was sublime to me , to tell the horrible story of the holocaust and I agreed with Steven that I would do anything. Different circumstances but Martin Scorsese is an actor and Steven Spielberg has never been an actor.

Q: What do you see as your special role in cinema?
A: I think primarily I hope to be an ambassador for cinema and remind audiences, which is very difficult to do now, because audiences are offered films that don't really affect the heart or really examine the human condition or explore our struggle as human beings. A lot of films now made as if they were commercials to sell Pepsi Cola. They don't relate to us as human beings, they are items to be consumed to make money. So, it's a real struggle as Martin Scorsese would agree to be an ambassador for film and the beauty of cinema. When you say the beauty of cinema, people don't really know what you are talking about. If you examine the history of cinema and its ability to touch people's hearts, then cinema is hugely important. I am an ambassador for cinema I want cinema to touch people's hearts and not to touch people's wallets. That is the important thing; we have to get that balance back again. It is slipping away from us as film makers. Films are now made by committee not by a brilliant individual. Films are used to sell an idea to adolescents instead of helping those adolescents through a struggle. They are saying "let them pay" which is unfair. So I am an ambassador for cinema, I am also a member of the European film academy, as well as the British and American academies and I have my own film production company . I want to attract people who want to tell beautiful stories to their fellow human beings and of course Morocco is a very strong part of this and my film experience here has been sublime. I recently finished «Prince of Persia «here in Morocco which is a family film with a huge heart. So let's make sure that cinema touches people's hearts and not their wallets any more.