I think it's true that the more sanitized a person is, you can't really relate to that person.

You actually do confront your dark side, your impulses, or your feelings of sibling rivalry in Cinderella or whatever. You admit that they exist and then you work through them and conquer them and come out living happily ever after having learned something. That's one reason why the fairy tales keep having traction and meaning.

We read about secret lives that people have on the Internet, or alternate lives of a serial killer where the whole family didn't know that their dad or their brother or their child was that. There are all the things in our heart that no one really knows, and I thought that that was interesting territory to explore.

As a director, you've got to have quite a few projects going because you never know which one will actually come together with the financing and get the green light.

People are more likely to help other people who look exactly like them. They will hang out at the bar and on the golf course with them.

When I talk to film students, I always say, "Buy the DVDs and listen to the commentaries, look at the making of, look at the behind-the-scenes," because that's such a great learning tool.

I thought, "If I can make you feel what it's like for that first super-passionate love, other people might like that too," and, of course, they did.