I thought I'd become a funeral director when I wasn't going to be an actor. I thought I would be good at helping some people with the grieving process and with trying to get them to talk about and understand who this person was.

I don't think the money people in Hollywood have ever thought I was normal, but I am dedicated to my work and that's what counts.

I'm trying to find things that are extremely challenging or mean something to me deeply.

I'm shy to call myself a director still. When someone says, 'What do you do for a living?' I don't know if I've earned that.

Maleficent has suffered abuse in the past, and there's a reason why she is now as furious as she is. And I think that children who have been outcast and abused in any way will relate to her. There's a beautiful side to her; she's not just a dark person. She has all these facets. And that is interesting.

I've learned a lot from Clint [Eastwood], who's an extremely economical director.

You know, more children die under the age of five when the parents are not educated.