Elia Kazan - the films he made were such a big deal for me when I was growing up.

I didn't read the script [ Rules Don't Apply ] for a couple years. It basically amounted to this kind of apprenticeship with Warren [Beatty]: conversations and learning about his whole background in the film industry and his life.

But even a kid, directing was something that I did. I made short films in school. I feel like I've been in the best film school in the world.

I'm an actor because I love movies, and always have loved movies. I'm a film buff. So, getting to work with those kinds of directors and getting to tell those stories is what I want to do.

I grew up watching a lot of old movies, so getting to ask about making movies in the '70s and people he was friends with, like Orson Welles, Lillian Hellman and Charlie Chaplin, and hearing a first-person account was pretty incredible.

[Warren Beatty] is voraciously detail-oriented.

So many times you can't get a foot in the door unless you're already in the room.