Have you ever had to meet any awkward parents yourself?
I had a very narrow experience of my own. I fell in love with this girl and had to go and meet her father. You think you're alone with it; that you are the only person who has ever had this much anxiety. He was specifically a very anxious person to meet because he was a psychoanalyst. I sat round imagining how much of myself I might reveal. I told bad jokes, brought bad gifts, and chose the wrong wine.
Do you think Robert De Niro has suddenly realised his comic potential?
He really enjoys it, I think. His partner told me that he was tearful about having a film that had both commercial and critical success. It had always been one or the other for him. Even "Analyse This" wasn't always reviewed that well. I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to have him pleased with something I did. I was so fearful of making the bad Robert De Niro film. I worked my ass off to make sure that didn't happen.
Were you surprised at the success of the "Austin Powers" films?
We were surprised because it previewed so poorly. People didn't know what to think of Mike wearing bad teeth and hair all over his body. They rejected the first movie in large numbers. Then something happened: it sold more videos in two years than any other film, including "Titanic" and "Star Wars". That was like a giant TV commercial for the second movie. When we ran the "Star Wars"-themed teaser trailer, everyone began talking about the film being the number two film to see last summer. That was insane. Nobody expected the sequel to be that big.
