I start to get fixated on a story and a character and an idea, and at a certain point, I really want to do it. It's a compulsion to explore a specific thing, as opposed to a compulsion to direct, generally speaking.

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 almost forgot what it's like to be proud of my government.

Most of the movies that I've made that I really felt good about and cared about made very little money anyway, so I'm not particularly worried about people downloading and sharing them.

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

What has always been most interesting about acting to me personally is that it affords you the chance to shift gears, both in terms of the experiences you get to have through doing it, but also the different kinds of things you get to represent.

If two people are at completely different stages in their spiritual life, that can present a real problem.