I'm actually embarrassed to tell people I'm Russian these days, because it's become such an awful place.

I'm fascinated by how ethnic communities have assimilated into massive capitalist environments.

My parents were of the opinion, because they had started skating very young, that you should have something that you do that you care about, because it structures your life as you're growing up.

I've been lucky to be able to work with great people and on interesting material.

One of my favorite vampire movies is 'Nosferatu,' which has a palpable sense of dread that's a pre-war dread.

There's only a handful of people I trust completely, and I know who they are. Other than that, I pretty much don't trust people.

If you want to make movies you need to think on a micro-micro level and figure out how to make them for nothing with people who really care about your movie and really want to make it.