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?

Samuel Fuller pictures were both written and shot in such an unusual way that his voice came through loud and clear, and it made a big impression on me.

Bad Influence, which is an early movie of mine that I'm very fond of. It was an unhappy experience when that picture got released, because it coincided with that ridiculous Rob Lowe videotape scandal.

That love of movies is very much alive in me.

I was never a critic.

What you care about [movie] is whether it's moving you, or whether you're caught up in it.

In L.A. Confidential, it was great to surprise the audience with Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe - two Australian actors that they didn't know at all - and let people discover them through the course of the film.