We're not used to seeing movies, especially with physical action, when it isn't the man who comes in to save the day.

I'm still a great movie fan, and I guess that's the answer to your question.

Roger [Corman] didn't actually hire me, though. I was hired by AIP [American International Pictures], the studio that made the picture, which was Sam Arkoff and Jim Nicholson. It was a great learning experience for me, because not only did I work on the script, but they hired me back to go on location when they were making the movie, to write new scenes and so forth.

There was a long period of time when Sam Fuller had a lot of projects fall through and had a lot of difficulties getting a project off the ground. And I was able to observe him during that period, and see his incredible resiliency and courage as he faced this difficulty and just kept working.

When I'm casting a picture, I think who I'd like to see in it if I was sitting in a theater. Who would surprise me?

I wrote a couple of scripts on spec that didn't get made but got some attention, and I then got offers to write professionally.

From my point of view, when I was thinking about the prospect of [Michael Douglas] in this part, I wondered if he would go all the way with it. The reason I was concerned is that, oftentimes, actors - especially movie stars - when they're playing a character who might be perceived as unattractive or eccentric, will wink at the audience while they're doing it.