As I mention in my new book, I had a father who was very troubled, and his troubles led him to violent behavior that was contemptible—and that I later spoke out about. But as a teenager, mixing with adults like my English teacher allowed me a look at the broader world. I suddenly found myself in the company of clever, well-educated people. And what a relief I wasn’t Patrick Stewart when I was being Hopcroft Minor in The Happiest Days of Your Life, because Patrick Stewart’s life was pretty crummy a lot of the time back then.

I was probably 13, and there was a review which said, “and Patrick Stewart was barely adequate.” It punched me. And I think it gave me the feeling of “I’ll show you.”

Paul McCartney’s girlfriend was in my theater company in Bristol in 1964. We were all saying to each other in a pub: If you had a million dollars, what’s the first thing you’d buy? I said, “An Aston Martin.” A couple of weeks later, I was changing in my tiny dressing room and there was a knock on the door. I was in my underwear—we were very informal—and I said, “Come on in.” And there was Paul. He said, “Jane tells me that you like Aston Martins.” And he tossed me a set of keys and said, “Take me and Jane for a ride.” And all I could think of was, If I crash this car and kill Paul McCartney, that’s all I will be remembered for. So, it wasn’t really fun. [For more Beatles, see “Cover Story: Ringo Starr.”]

I was having a glass of wine with [wife] Sunny [Ozell] and began to say the first line of a Shakespeare sonnet. And she said, “Could I film that? I think we should post this.” I said, “No, it’s like me showing off.” She said, “It would be interesting.” It exploded. Now calls from the other side of the street are “I love Star Trek! I love X-Men! I love your sonnets!”

Barbie has never been in my life. All of a sudden, my New York Times is full of Barbie, Barbie, Barbie. So I said to Sunny, I must see it. Well, I struggled for the first hour. It was trying to turn cuteness into something substantial. But when we got to the last scenes, I teared up—I found myself connecting my life experience to the one that the film was illustrating.

My day yesterday began with watching my beloved home team win their first game of the season. Sunny added it up and said, “You’ve supported Huddersfield Town Football Club for 74 years. That has to be close to a record.” My uncle took me to my first Huddersfield Town soccer game, and I watched all of my first professional soccer games sitting on his shoulders. Now, of course, I sit in the director’s box! [Laughs.]

I’ve taken part in two races on professional Formula One racecourses. And I have two Porsches, one in England, another here in Los Angeles. But people say, “You’re wasting that Porsche,” because I have become rigorous about following the regulations—speed limits, school zones, stop signs—and it annoys people so much. —As told to Joel Stein