Sam Mendes: our Lebedev Award winner on his new creative streak, and why he'll never run the National

Before meeting Sam Mendes at the memorabilia-strewn office of his production company Neal Street in Covent Garden, I email him a cutting of our last interview, 31 years ago, in GQ. It shows him on the same street, when he was about to reopen the Donmar Warehouse in 1992. He’s done pretty well since, I reckon.

The Donmar became a creative powerhouse during his 12 years in charge: he took Cabaret to New York, directed at the National, Royal Shakespeare Company, on Broadway and in the West End and set up the transatlantic Bridge Project around an ensemble of British and American stars.

Then there’s his film career, which started with a Best Picture Oscar for his debut, American Beauty, and embraces two Bond films and more personal projects like 1917 and Empire of Light. On TV he produced Call the Midwife and Penny Dreadful. He was knighted in 2020.

Amid a new creative streak on stage – The Ferryman, The.