What I love is when I'm in the theater with audiences and I hear them laugh. That's such a relief to me. They're going on the ride and they're allowing themselves to enjoy it, even though we're traversing some dark waters.

I'm very jealous of actors that swoop in for 20 days, and then swoop back out. When you're a director, you're on that train for the next two years, so you best love it like you've never loved anything, ever.

The test for me, when I read other people's scripts, is whether I feel like there's something about me that is the best person to tell this story. I have a pretty high bar for myself. There's a lot of scripts that I read and think, "Oh, this is great, but I think there are 50 other directors who could bring this to the cinema."

If you're gonna take people on a journey that deals with some pretty heavy themes, I think you best have a sense of humor, here and there.

Ultimately, what audiences respond to is truth. Even as fantastical as the story can be, and out there, at its core, it's dealing with loss, madness and mortality.

It takes forever to make a film. It's a gargantuan thing of untold effort.

The more personal you get, the more universal a story you end up telling.