I imagine that in a closed, hermetic society like the mob, where everybody knows each other, it must be really, really unpleasant to have to kill people. It's the sort of thing you really want to avoid.

Jesse James is like a Leonard Cohen song, I wanted to do something that was like a pop song.

It's a wonderful thing to go to work and have no idea what you're going to do.

The fantasy gives you the courage to feel things.

As a filmmaker, it's important to sit there and feel embarrassed. If you feel embarrassed by something, you cut it.

I think the film gives you a picture of a person. It gives you a complete picture.

I'm not a very efficient filmmaker. There's a lot of guys, filmmakers like the Coen Brothers who shoot a whole movie and maybe don't use 12 setups. I'm in awe of people like that; I'm just not that guy.