I bring to my life a certain amount of mess.

The most adventurous thing I've done is learn how to fly a helicopter in the Philippines. One night we landed on a beach and slept on it.

It's ironic that at age 32, at probably the greatest moment of my career, with The Godfather having such an enormous success, I wasn't even aware of it, because I was somewhere else under the deadline again.

My talent is that I just try and try and try and try again and little by little it comes to something.

I was a pretty shy, lonely kid. I blossomed about age 17, when I went to college.

Films and hotels have many aspects that are the same. For example, there is always a big vision, an idea.

I have always credited the writer of the original material above the title: Mario Puzo's The Godfather, Bram Stoker's Dracula, or John Grisham's The Rainmaker. I felt that I didn't have the right to Francis Coppola's anything unless I had written the story and the screenplay.