My first instinct was to cast as close to the short story as possible, but then I realized that I needed actors who could go for it and that they had to function well as a couple in a love story.

I grew up pretty peacefully, in that Eastern way. You easily solve problems, believe in harmony. Reduce conflicts, take orders until one day you give orders.

I think the American West really attracts me because it's romantic. The desert, the empty space, the drama.

I did a women's movie, and I'm not a woman. I did a gay movie, and I'm not gay. I learned as I went along.

The fear factor actually brings the genuineness.

I like to do drama, something about life that could be disappointing.

When I grew up, in Taiwan, the Korean War was seen as a good war, where America protected Asia. It was sort of an extension of World War II. And it was, of course, the peak of the Cold War. People in Taiwan were generally proAmerican. The Korean War made Japan. And then the Vietnam War made Taiwan. There is some truth to that.