You don?t retire from the movies, they retire you. The scripts stop coming or the money is too small to make it worthwhile getting up in the morning. The way I work, I regard myself as retired; I only come out of retirement for offers I can?t refuse. I haven?t worked for a year but I wanted to play Batman?s butler, I wanted to play Nicole?s dad in Bewitched and there?s another film, The Weatherman where I played Nicolas Cage?s dad. They were all parts that fascinated me. I wasn?t ready for a lead after The Quiet American, which was a tough role for me and cured me of playing leads for a while.

Now I will do something there are three pictures I want to do, small parts. One [Children of Men, released September 2006] is with Alfonso Cuaron who directed Y tu Mama Tambien, I wanted to work with him and then Christopher Nolan who directed Batman is doing a smaller film called The Prestige about magicians and it?s very interesting. And we?re going to make The Joker next year.