It really didn’t have to be like this. Roger Michell didn’t need to be sitting here in a rehearsal room in North London’s unlovely Kilburn. He didn’t need to be earning rubbish money to direct an old play about middle-class adultery in West London. He didn’t need to be spending his days sticking period details from the 1970s up on the rehearsal room walls with his cast (Toby Stephens, Sam West and Dervla Kirwan). He could have been spending his days blowing up stuff.
Well, maybe that’s not what turns him on. Why else would you turn down the chance to direct Daniel Craig in the next James Bond film? Why else would you say no to a reported $8 million (£4 million) pay cheque