So here he is bristling when Stephen Frears won’t chip in for a meal (“You’re in a hit film, aren’t you?”). Ewan McGregor is taxonomised as “self-involved to a jaw-dropping degree” while David Hare is “more self-involved than any actor I have ever met”. Alan Rusbridger is “as ever, it seems, devoid of questions or curiosity or life, really”. While the years impart structure, a contrapuntal rhythm comes with the life cycle of every fresh project. He embarks each time on a wave of idealism, only to chronicle the crushing impact of reality in the form of colleagues, audiences, the press. “Once again The Telegraph shows its tawdry little fangs,” he mutters, though a Guardian critic enrages him too. He feels it all even more when directing. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{