The authenticity aspect is pretty important to me. When we have to compromise and do something that's not authentic, it really rubs me, every time I have to see it in the edit, which is millions of times.

The theoretical casting part of movies is the funnest part. You really can imagine so many different versions of a story, based on who's embodying it.

There are a lot of movies I would want to be a fly on the wall for. I would have loved to see the making of Jaws [1975], with all the fears and anxieties it was going to be a complete failure, and then to have it turn into the first blockbuster.

Film still looks way better than digital.

Your movie should lull people into a place of openness and vulnerability. If it is just a diatribe, it's never going to work.

It's just nice to be able to communicate and be able to identify with a lot of different cultures. I have no idea what it would be like to be just one thing and speak one language. I feel enormously privileged to travel and be able to mingle and speak to people that, had I only known English, I wouldn't have been able to meet.

I don't think I'd ever write anything that I don't also direct just because it's so hard and painful to write as it is.