I studied French forever, and when do I ever speak French? I clearly should have studied Spanish. I wish I had stuck with music, because that would still be great. I really wish I had learned to surf earlier in my life.

In drama, I think, the audience is a willing participant. It's suspending a certain kind of disbelief to try to get something out of a story.

People say you can't make movies about your politics or the environment. And, generally speaking, I completely divide those sides of my brain.

I just like working with smart people.

If you try to make interesting films, you're going to be disappointed most of the time. I choose just not to look at it that way.

But work that's got real substance does make people feel, "There's someone else out there who relates to my experience, or who just helped me understand my own experience a little bit better." And I think that's still got enormous value.

I like it when the deeper you go with the character, the more you see the layers start to peel away.