You'll never have any mental muscle if you don't have any heavy stuff to pick up.

Americans have an interesting conundrum, a black and white line: You're on one side or the other of Puritanism or licentiousness. But that gray area where people abide, between their ears or on the Internet, needs to be fleshed out more in terms of permission granted. I think a lot of women are contained within the parentheses of shoulds and role-play. It's all about entitlement and history. It's all about upper-body strength - and exacting your will.

Every film is its own experience, its own planet, its own family. It seems infinite when you're working on it, and then it's suddenly very finite, and it's done.

You can't get work without working.

I think a lot of the time, the studio system is so compelled to kowtow to its fear that women are not going to be found sympathetic. It just sort of euthanizes any hope of more diverse examples of the emotional realities of people. Representing my gender, I think, "Well, I have those emotions, why don't those ever get brought to the screen so I can feel recognized?"

Sometimes I think opposable thumbs were invented so teenage girls could use text messaging.

It's always refreshing to step into another time.