Songwriting and screenwriting aren't that different to me.

I generally have lyrics first, but you can't help that when you're writing lyrics you start to get a melody in your head. So they come kind of simultaneously.

Usually with film writing I start with characters, and set about writing their story.

You never know what an audience is going to think about something. The ones that the audience doesn't get, I tend to let them go. I don't like to dwell on them too much.

Just the other day, my assistant was on the line with Calvin Klein. Golly, I usually shop at Sears.

If Michelle Pfeiffer gave Mel Gibson a vial of blood to wear around his neck in a movie you'd think it was terribly romantic, everyone would cry and they'd win awards. But in real life if someone does that they'd be considered weird.

I'm not sure that I'm really relevant as a director anymore. Or as a writer, either, to tell you the truth.