It’s time to call a halt to the A-list actor interview — at least until the PRs and agents who now control every aspect of them relax and allow the odd morsel of interesting information to escape.

It’s shocking to see how easily controlled seemingly intelligent and self-sufficient superstars are — but with few exceptions (Susan Sarandon, Emma Thompson), the big names tow the line.

So this month the ‘warm, friendly, super-chatty’ Thandie Newton shockingly revealed that she is a “normal, decent” person, who “expects life to be challenging”. “Don’t be afraid of pain because it’s part of life,” she gravely imparted to her intrepid interviewer.

Meanwhile, elsewhere we discovered that Hilary Swank is dedicated to her craft but sometimes feel like an outsider. “There’s no such thing as perfection,” Swank said, before confessing she believes both in “fate” and “changing fate by making choices”. Lots of trees could be saved if fools stopped printing these meaningless platitudes. And there would be more oxygen to go round if A-list saps stopped saying them.