The 5-minute Interview: Sir Ben Kingsley, actor

'I'm still a storyteller. It's what I wanted to be as a child'

(Getty Images)

Sir Ben Kingsley, 64, starred in films such as 'Schindler's List', 'Sexy Beast' and 'Gandhi', for which he won an Oscar. The DVD of his film 'You Kill Me' is out now.

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

I'm in Boston and, given that it's a beautiful day, I'd be walking in the park.

A phrase I use too often...

"Um."

The most surprising thing that happened to me was...

A pleasant surprise was that my role as a story- teller has been sustained – I've done what I've wanted to do since I was a child.

I wish people would take more notice of...

The person next to them. Gandhi said politics begins with the person next to you.

I am not a politician but...

If I were I'd listen to people and hold back on the rhetoric.

I'm good at...

Trying. I'm a Capricorn.

The ideal night out is ...

My wife and I at a restaurant in London.

In moments of weakness I...

Breathe deeply.

You know me as an actor but in a truer life I'd have been ...

In the military – either the Navy or the Army.

The best age to be is...

I don't know really – when you find yourself with people with whom you can be entirely yourself.

In a nutshell, my philosophy is this:

The power of now: the habit of being fully present is a great gift because it affects how we love, attend to life, how we give. It's all we have.