I've had a couple opportunities where I've been on the other side of the audition process as a director.

Whenever you hear somebody else is auditioning for something, you sort of assume they're going to get it. You should try to just ignore it. I don't find it very helpful to know who else is going up for stuff, generally.

Warren [Beatty] loves to talk about his experiences with [Elia] Kazan.

I've had that experience many, many, times - when you don't get roles. I'd developed a good muscle for shaking it off.

Their way of working [the Coen brothers] is always kept pretty mysterious. I was so curious to see how they make these movies. It was just such a joy - they seem to have so much fun making their movies.

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.

[The Coen brothers] hire the same people over and over again, so there's a shorthand between all of the people they're working with.