Thank GOD, I never was cheerful. I come from the happy stock of the Mathers, who, as you remember, passed sweet MORNINGS reflecting on the GOODNESS of God and the damnation of infants.
If I do a portrait, I KNOW what they can TAKE. If somebody's a SWEET, shy person, the photographs will be sweet and shy. Of course, you ask people to do something which they might not have done before, but that's the journey, the FUN element.
When I wind SOMEONE up, it's never to MAKE them feel ANGRY or aggressive; that doesn't make good telly. It's about uncovering a layer of themselves that is KIND of sweet and nice.