Giuseppe Tornatore on Geoffrey Rush

The Best Offer's press junket ten days ago was well covered by the Italian online-media but the contributors' contents varied greatly. I've now found a detailed description of Mr Tornatore's collaboration with his star in his own words. I try to translate: "It was him [GR] who made things easier for me and carried me off with his wonderful personality. Geoffrey arrived on set with utmost punctuality. He shook hands with everybody and cracked jokes. Two minutes after having been called he was ready to tackle one of the most dramatic scenes. And he did it perfectly. His acting has an almost obsessive quality. After shooting he was cheerful again. But I know for sure that he was not oblivious of his caracter, he rather had split it off." (Source: Pierpaolo Festa).