I was raised by free-spirited people, though my father gave me a very strong work ethic.

Because that's what intimacy is: It's a willingness to be vulnerable, a willingness to bite my tongue and a willingness to set an example of what I believe in.

I think that directing is the ultimate martyred task of filmmaking, that it has nobility to it. It takes three years to make a film, for the most part. I think it requires the attentiveness of a mother hen.

My parents treated my like I had a brain - which, in turn, caused me to have one.

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

I've always had this unresolved desire to prove that I could get a Ph.D., or contribute something else to the world.

I bought into the myth that you are not complete without romantic love, without a mate. And it can really distract you from your goals. But sometimes you have to take a leap.