I actually share her view and understand her frustration when any government attempts to ban secular symbols like Santa Claus or Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer or Christmas lights.

Actually my mother and Alfie came for three weeks' Christmas vacation and stayed for 21 years. I guess my mother never went back because she was lonely.

It may be a cliche but it's true - the build-up to Christmas is so much more pleasurable than the actual day itself.

I'm actually living my life with the material I choose to work with.

When you're a chef you graze. You never get a chance to sit down and eat. They don't actually sit down and eat before you cook. So when I finish work the first thing I'll do and especially when I'm in New York I'll go for a run. And I'll run 10 or 15k on my - and I run to gain my appetite.

The difference between people who believe they have books inside of them and those who actually write books is sheer cussed persistence - the ability to make yourself work at your craft every day - the belief even in the face of obstacles that you've got something worth saying.

And it hurts as a player that you put a lot of hard work in during the week and at the end of the week Sunday when you get on the field that's when they acknowledge about the hard work that you put in throughout the week. That's actually a disappointment.

I actually may do a musical next year... not one that I've written one that I may star in. Plus my concert and other people's work and all of a sudden you've got a very full life.

So did I work with Warhol? I worked with him less on that play then I did on other things. He actually did a portrait of my rabbit and some other stuff. Warhol was definitely... Warhol.

But I work harder now because I have so much more exposure. And actually the harder you work as a writer the better you get at it. It's like anything else. It's a muscle you have to exercise. I write more now than ever.