New Orleans has a real spirit. It's the most authentic of all American cities.

I had the luxury of working on the script with Andrew [Dominik] for a good year before the film started, so I was already intimate with the story [of The Assassination of Jesse James] and felt quite prepared walking into it.

I loved 'Saturday Night Fever' when I was a kid. I couldn't believe people talked that way. It was just a whole new culture I didn't understand. I snuck into it. It was an R-rated film. So it holds a special place.

We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession.

With sons and fathers, there's an inexplicable connection and imprint that your father leaves on you.

Personally I like ageing. With age comes wisdom and I have said it before and I say it again, I will take wisdom over youth any day.

So much of making movies is about discovery on the day, what you're figuring out. If you know everything going in, then it's not worth doing - it's already done. I'm interested in finding people who I think have a voice - and a very specific voice.