Scott is an all-action director

Turning 71 next week will not be a signal for the prolific Sir Ridley Scott to slow down. Body of Lies, the director’s War on Terror blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, which opens tomorrow, is his eighth film this century. From action spectaculars (Gladiator) to road movies (Thelma & Louise), Scott is the British director that Hollywood trusts with big budgets and star egos. While the South Shields man is not precious about his “art”, film students have long debated the stunning visual sense that he brought to the sci-fi classics Blade Runner and Alien.

Scott, a graphic design graduate who got his break directing the Hovis bike-round commercial in 1973, will next breathe new life into Robin Hood, with Crowe, again, in the star role. “It’s insane, but it’s only a movie after all,” is his level-headed take on the business. “I used to agonise over what to do next, but now I make a movie a year.”