Producing, writing, directing and starring in your own film sounds like more than enough work for one person, but if you want that film to be a success, you have to get out there and promote it too.

Tommy Lee Jones knows this; he has, after all, been in the movie business for more than 40 years.

But he doesn't like doing it.

The 68-year-old actor has a reputation for being abrupt, grumpy and even downright rude to people, no matter how enthusiastic they are about his work.

"I am sorry darlin', but you're not on my list," he says, frowning down at a printed piece of paper when I meet him.

This is not a good start from a man who once reportedly got up and walked off without a word, leaving his interviewer hanging mid-sentence, simply because his allotted time was up.

But, sighing in exasperation, he concedes to go ahead, putting down his 'list' and his reading glasses on the sofa next to him.

His new film The Homesman is a beautiful piece of cinema.

Dubbed a 'feminist western', it stars Hilary Swank as Mary Bee Cuddy, an old maid with her own farm, keen to find a husband and complete her home.

When a number of women in her small Nebraska town go mad, their husbands are reluctant to make the journey to take them to be cared for at a church in Iowa. Cuddy volunteers to take them herself, and hires drifter Briggs (Jones) to accompany her.

And so begins a long and difficult journey by horse and cart, across rough and rolling terrain, with ominous skylines and vast, empty desert.

Jones helped adapt the script from the novel of same name by Glendon Swarthout, but he is reluctant to discuss any themes the audience might draw from the tale.

When I ask about this, on several occasions he claims not to hear, or understand the question.

Eventually, shaking his head: "I don't think we have any didactic intents at all. I don't believe the movie moralises in any way, or tries to do any teaching."

He is smartly dressed in a three-piece, pin-striped suit, with a watch chain; an old-fashioned gentleman. His face is gnarled by the creases of age, surrounding deep, earnest brown eyes.

After years of acting in films, from The Fugitive to Men In Black, Jones first stepped behind the camera to direct in 1995, with the TV movie The Good Old Boys, in which he also played an ageing cowboy.

For him, it was a natural step, and he seems a little bemused to be asked why he chose to make it. "I want to be a movie director, it's that simple."

And he is genuinely modest in addressing the challenges of taking on so may roles at once.

"There aren't a lot of a challenges. If you're a director and a producer and a writer and an actor on a movie, having any three of those jobs is going to make the fourth one easier."

Jones has been directed by some incredible film-makers over the years - Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, the Coen brothers, to name but a few - so he must surely have picked up some tips over the years. But, ever the straight-talker, he doesn't like the suggestion that he could 'cherry-pick' their best techniques.

"I pay attention all day long, every day, on the movie set," he says, frowning. "I wouldn't call it cherry-picking. I think I've got a pretty thorough practical education with motion picture cameras."

Born and raised in Texas, Jones won a scholarship to attend Harvard University, and after graduating, moved to New York to become an actor.

But after conquering Hollywood he returned to Texas, where he owns a cattle ranch - a true cowboy.

"I have a very strong sense of home," he concedes. "But my work takes me all over the world. I'm happiest at home."

His love for his country is evident in the film. The rising and setting of the sun, the vast cloud banks and breathtaking vistas are all captured beautifully.

"The world is the set," nods Jones in agreement. "And the set is a character and, of course, it's important. It's a beautiful, beautiful country."

But filming on location in the New Mexico winter isn't always easy.

"Sometimes the weather was violent. It was always consistently volatile," he reveals, laughing. "And unpredictable. Of course ,we turned that to the advantage of our lens as often as we could."

The Homesman boasts a fantastic cast, with Meryl Streep, James Spader and John Lithgow all making small but brilliant appearances.

Casting Swank was the icing on the cake, although Jones would not approve of that turn of phrase.

"We were trying to cast the role of Mary Bee Cuddy. We were able to make an appointment with Hilary at a pretty good Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills. Michael Fitzgerald [his co-producer] and I waited impatiently for her to show up."

One can't help thinking what a brave woman Swank was to keep him waiting - but it paid off.

"And when she did, we knew that was who should be playing Mary Bee Cuddy - within three seconds. We were very lucky that we were able to persuade her," Jones admits.

He won't talk about such frivolous things as whether they had fun on the road together.

But in one scene in the film, after swigging on a large jug of whiskey, as they exchange views around the camp fire, Briggs surprises Mary Bee with some moves.

Stamping his feet and clapping his knees, a light shines in his eyes and Jones acts out a one-man hoedown around the flames.

At first, he claims not to remember any dancing when I ask him about it, but then there's a flicker of amusement in the old actor's eyes as he recalls the scene.

"Oh no, you mean George Briggs stomping around the camp fire! Not a very graceful man," he says, laughing again. "I'm not a dancer."

And Tommy Lee Jones is not a talker, either. But he's clearly a man of action, and he's made a great movie. So perhaps he just wants to go home and put his feet up.

EXTRA TIME - TOMMY LEE JONES IN ACTION

:: The Fugitive (1993) - Jones won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as US Marshal Samuel Gerard, chasing down Harrison Ford.

:: Men In Black (1997) - Jones helps initiate Will Smith's character into the secret world of policing aliens on Earth as Special Agent Kay, a role he has twice reprised in the sequels to the blockbuster.

:: Space Cowboys (2000) - Jones stars alongside Clint Eastwood as an ageing astronaut who comes out of retirement for one last special mission.

:: No Country For Old Men (2007) - Jones plays a Sheriff despairing the rising violence in Texas in the Coen brothers' Oscar-winner.

:: Lincoln (2012) - He earned his fourth Oscar nomination for his portrayal of radical republican Thaddeus Stevens in Steven Spielberg's historical drama.

:: The Homesman is released in UK cinemas on Friday, November 21

ends