The laugh is what trumps everything.

When you're 20 you can put a ton of old-age prosthetics on and be an old guy, but when you're 70 you can't play a 20-year-old.

I pretty much read reviews and comments only looking for the negative. Literally, when I read positive comments, it's like a zero. I think the issue is if you agree with it or not.

I think independent movies are actually very challenging right now, because it was this huge scene and it was great for a few years. Then, it was totally co-opted by the studios. Now, it's become very corporate, the independent scene.

I think everybody has a public persona. We all present ourselves.

Even if people end up doing awful things, you can empathize with their motives when you know them. When you get to know the person, you can understand why they make those choices, even if they're bad. And oftentimes people do have good drives that are sympathetic and can even be seen as selfless and good-hearted.

You get to use everything you learned in movie business. You talk to actors, if you do it right - and I haven't always done it right - you should be shaping the material all the time. And the other thing is, you get all the blame when you direct and it doesn't work. You get slammed. So that's another reason to know what you're making, why you're making it, and make it the way you want.