The 5-Minute Interview: Ennio Morricone, Composer

'People think I have achieved only a few famous scores'

The Italian composer Ennio Morricone, 68, has written scores for more than 400 films including "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" and "Cinema Paradiso". He performs at London's Hammersmith Apollo on 1 and 2 December as part of the Don't Look Back series

If I weren't talking to you right now I'd be...

Sitting on the couch.

I wish people would take more notice of...

Peace. It's something the politicians should take into account.

A common misperception of me is...

The main one is that so many people know very little of the body of work I do and so they tend to underestimate me.

I'm not a politician but...

The first thing I would do is take care of the economy of my country and then try to be extremely honest towards Italians.

I'm good at...

I couldn't say. As people tell me very often I am good at my work I presume I got it right.

But I'm very bad at...

Cooking.

The ideal night out is...

The weather is mild and I am with my family and we are all happy together.

In moments of weakness...

If I'm being pessimistic I tend to think of all the hard moments of my life that I overcame. If it's a physical weakness I try to resolve it by taking care of my body.

You know me as a musician, but in a truer life I'd have been a...

As a young man I used to want to be a doctor. Now I think I would like to be a chess champion.

The best age to be is...

I find my age a very good one. I can see all the things I have done.

In a nutshell, my philosophy is this:

Being honest and being good to people. And I try to think of those not as lucky as I am.

Elisa Bray