I was raised as a Catholic, but I didn't like the Catholic Church at all. I thought the nuns were mean.

Most Italians who came to this country are very patriotic. There was this exciting possibility that if you worked real hard, and you loved something, you could become successful.

The photographer and the director are where reality and fantasy meet.

I gladly, I voluntarily gave up the kind of commercial film career I had going as soon as I had enough money to finance my own films. I didn't make that money necessarily from the film business, but I eventually made a lot of money and that's what I do. Of course, I consider myself unbelievably fortunate, and I'm pretty content with my life.

If you're a person who says yes most of the time, you'll find yourself in the hotel business and the restaurant business.

When I do a novel, I don't really use the script, I use the book; when I did Apocalypse Now, I used Heart of Darkness. Novels usually have so much rich material.

Art depends on luck and talent.