When I decided to direct, never having done that before, is something I'm very proud of

You have to be willing to expose yourself, at least to yourself, to get to some kind of truth about a character.

When Bush first got elected, the very first time there was talk of going to war with Iraq, the mainstream media gave his position total credibility. I didn't get it then, and I don't get it now

If I started worrying about how my constituents are going to react to every move I make, I wouldn't be able to do my job here. I'll do what I think is right and explain it later.

A lot of films come out before they're finished.

I had some really dear friends who died from AIDS-one in particular. His family wasn't around and he didn't have many friends. I spent a lot of time with him in his later days.

I made career decisions that came from the part of me who wanted to shun the limelight.