Quotes

People look at me like I'm a first-time director. It drives me insane. I've produced six movies.

Luck is a huge factor in my career. Most people are given opportunities. Lucky people recognize them and take them.

Prep properly and you make a great movie.

Making the movie was the time of my life. It's like I was drinking out of a box wine, and here's a 1988 Latour with a great piece of steak and foie gras and cheese -- pure delight and amazement.

If you give the audience what they expect, they'll be bored. There are no rules: You do what you want while respecting the boundaries. You don't poke people in the eye; you do things they haven't seen before and make it accessible, funny and clever.

If you've got the money, you can do anything on film these days. Nothing is impossible, which becomes boring to me. I used CG as a prop to the story, not the other way around.

[on Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and why Princess Tilde rewards Eggsy with anal sex for saving her] If you've noticed, this is my Spinal Tap [This Is Spinal Tap (1984)] of trying to find 11 with every scene. What happened there was I studied all the old movies, especially the Bond ones. At the end of Moonraker (1979), he's floating around in space on Dr. Goodhead, and they say, "Bond is attempting reentry." In The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), he says he's "keeping the British end up." The innuendo is pretty strong and always comes from the men. I just thought it would be great to turn it on its head by having the woman say it. I actually think it's empowering. Some bloody feminists are accusing me of being a misogynist. I'm like, "It couldn't be further from the truth." It's a celebration of women and the woman being empowered in a weird way in my mind, which will cause a big argument again I'm sure. It's meant to be tongue-in-cheek and crazy. [2015]

[on Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) and why Eggsy inserts a tracking device into the vagina of Clara] For the first time I wanted to see a spy with an emotional and moral dilemma of having to do something he really doesn't want to do. Because James Bond would have done that, and probably would have had sex and a cigarette and thought, who's next? Eggsy is different. And I think it's really important to do scenes that do make people feel uncomfortable. That scene plays very differently to people. Some people laugh and cheer. Other people are like, 'Oh my God.' Some people are disgusted about it. But nobody doesn't notice it - and, afterward, they'll talk about it. And that's what I want to do with films. I want people to discuss it afterward. I don't want to make bland movies. I think there are enough movies made by Hollywood committees that bore you to death. I'm there to wake you up, one way or another. [2017]