Richard Curtis on the spot

Ahead of his appearance at our ‘Creativity for Commerce’ Annual Conference, on 21 November, Elen Lewis interviews Richard Curtis CBE.

What would you tell your 17-year-old self?
Don't change into what you think are 'attractive party clothes' for parties. They don't make you look more attractive.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
From life - from funny things my friends say and do - and from pop music.

How different are your finished films to the initial vision in your head?
I don't really visualise my films when I'm writing them, alas, so much of them come as a total surprise. And the actors always totally enrich everything.

What advice would you offer to others on being more creative?
Trust your own instincts - don't think 'what will other people laugh at - think what makes me and my friends laugh.'

Does having had a great success mean it's easier for you to know whether a new project will work?
Not really. But you can learn from the good things in one project - like I learnt from Mike Newell while making Four Weddings that casting in a movie is of total importance.

What's your guilty pleasure?
Snickers bars.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
My Dad always said - 'you can't be happier than happy' - that's pretty good advice - that once you're happy, you shouldn't think 'no, but it could be better'. He also said that problems are problems because they can't be resolved.

Tell us a secret.
My true feelings about an enormous number of things are a secret.

This year's Annual Conference is on 25 November at the BFI. To find out more and book tickets head here.