My plays tend to be peopled with outsiders in search of clarity.

We have this myth that if you work hard, you can accomplish anything. It's not a very American thing to say, but I don't think that's true. It's true for a lot of people, but you need other things to succeed. You need luck, you need opportunity, and you need the life skills to recognize what an opportunity is.

My plays tend to be peopled with outsiders in search of clarity.

I'm a playwright by trade, and in theater, writers have complete control over everything. Nobody can change a word without your permission. I've had a couple screenwriting experiences that weren't terrible, but they were typical, where executives came in and gave you sometimes good notes and sometimes horrible notes - but they wanted to change the movie that everybody had agreed to make. After a couple of times, it's like, "Why are we doing this?" The story is not going to turn out very good when 13 people are writing it together.

Only assholes write plays about Nazis.

With studio work, I'm always the bottom man on the totem pole.

I've worked really hard, but I know people who have worked even harder but didn't have the chances I've had.