Philomena star and co-writer Steve Coogan has said he chose to bring the true story of Irish woman Philomena Lee's search for her long lost son to the big screen in order to do something "sincere", and because cynicism is "unsatisfying".
In an interview with Radio Times, Coogan said of the Oscar-nominated Philomena: "I wanted to do something that was authentic, real and sincere because that seemed to be almost the avant-garde choice to say something sincere and not be cynical.
"Cynicism is easy and, although people think it's very clever to be cynical, it is, but ultimately it's unsatisfying."
Coogan continued: "What's really bold and what is the toughest choice is to talk about love and hope and optimism, and those are the things that people shy away from because they find it awkward or they don't know how to deal with them."
As to future projects, Coogan said: "I'm not that interested in comedy - that's the problem. It's a busman's holiday for me and I'd rather watch documentaries than watch comedy."
He added: "I like using comedy in drama and that's what I'm more interested in developing. I still want to do Alan Partridge but the more successful I am in doing drama, the more likely I am to carry on doing Alan - because I feel I've got another string to my bow."
Philomena is out now on Blu-ray and DVD, while Coogan and Rob Brydon's comedy The Trip to Italy begins on BBC Two on Friday April 4 at 10:00pm.
