The Pommy screen legend is still kicking arse in vigilante film Harry Brown.
Seeing as you’ve been knighted, do we need to address you as "Sir"?
No, just call me Michael.
There's heaps of hardcore gang violence and drugs in Harry Brown. Is England really that f–ked up?
In areas, yes. That's the problem. That's why we made the picture, because no-one seemed to realise it. I thought it would be a good wake-up call and a warning to everybody. Here was a massive section of the working-class population completely ignored. And destroyed, in a way, by drugs and gangsters.
Do you know much about that world?
The apartment blocks you see in the movie, that's where I come from. So I'm not some middle-class twit who doesn’t know what he's talking about. We used a lot of the real gang boys in the movie. The first question they all asked was, "Where do you come from?" and I just said, "About 700 yards over there." And so they knew. It didn't matter what colour they were, they talked to me as if I was them – but this old white man.
What would cause you to go vigilante like Harry Brown?
Anything to do with my family. I'm very family oriented. And unforgiving. You get one chance with me and that’s it.
Which movies do people quote at you most?
The Italian Job – "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off." And Get Carter – "You're a big man but you're out of shape. With me, it's a business."
Do you get sick of punters doing impressions of you?
No. I don't hear most of them, and I can do it better than they can anyway. They always take my voice up to a higher octave, which isn't me at all.
Is it a bigger honour being Batman's butler or Austin Powers' dad?
They're both a great honour. But I've played a lot of fathers – I was Nicole Kidman's father, I was Nicolas Cage's father – so I'll have to go the butler. I love being Batman's butler. I think it's a great part.
Who's the wildest person you've gone boozing with?
[Legendary pisshead actor] Peter O'Toole. We went out for a drink after a show on a Saturday night and woke up on Monday morning, not knowing where we were.
How should blokes handle women?
With laughter. If they laugh at what you say, it means they're completely relaxed with you and trusting. If you can make a woman laugh, it's worth a diamond ring. If you can make her laugh and give her a diamond ring, that's even better.
Luke Anisimoff
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