Whenever you anticipate something - like, "it's my highly anticipated whatever" - you are probably going to be disappointed. I wish we could all Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind ourselves every time we went to the movies and not know anything about anyone.

The history and baggage of certain actors and characters - it goes into the movie and becomes part of it. If Keanu Reeves wasn't Keanu with all the things that make him Keanu, it wouldn't be the same for him to come in and become his Bad Batch character The Dream. It's kind of meta or next-level interesting for me.

I don't personally do that many castings. But I did get involved in "The Bad Batch," because we couldn't think of an actress that was a 3-D embodiment of the character. But when I saw Suki Waterhouse on tape, I knew she was 'it.' And I can't describe that any more than to say that I never had to really express to her the the ideas that were on the page, she just instinctively embraced it. She was Arlen, and I didn't want to f**k it up. Her instinct was just it.

I believe that every character I create is in their own film, that happens to overlap with the main film. There are complete and real characters, even though we only spend only a little time with them. In the approach to what those entities are, that always appeals to an actor. What are they, since they are going to embody this character?

I only noticed this after I had finished the film 'The Bad Batch,' and watched it again a few months later... Arlen, main character, is kind of like a shark because she keeps on moving forward. I do feel that in modern society that still is the best way to survive.

There's something to me with categorization - it stops you from thinking about the thing that is actually happening.

When I came up with the concept of 'The Dream,' on the surface he just seemed like another creepy bad man or villain. It had to be played by someone larger than life, but not malicious. And Keanu Reeves is that person to me, and he was The Dream like I wanted The Dream.