The hills above the junction of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue are lush and green, with large houses nestled together on narrow, winding streets. It is a quiet, serene neighbourhood – a surprise, given the area’s proximity to the hustle and bustle of Hollywood – but that is one of the reasons the film director and writer Kevin Smith decided to move here a decade ago.

With an edgy sensibility and a taste for spicy dialogue, Smith, the director of films such as Chasing Amy, Dogma and Red State, has never really been part of the Hollywood establishment. Yet the portly director could not have chosen to live in an area more closely aligned with the entertainment industry.

Plenty of stars live in what is one of the city’s grandest enclaves. Dame Helen Mirren has a home nearby, for example, as does the director Penny Marshall. “Morpheus [Laurence Fishburne, the star of the Matrix films] lives around here too,” says Smith, easing himself into a chair in his living room.