I have more of a vivid imagination than I have talent. I cook up ideas. It's just a characteristic.

My film isn't about Vietnam. It is Vietnam. It's what it was really like. It was crazy. And the way we made it was very much like the way the Americans were in Vietnam. We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment and little by little we went insane.

I was the kind of kid that had some talents or ability, but it never came out in school.

By working in the morning, I find a sense of peace; it's isolated peace, but I can definitely be in touch with my feelings, and then I just start.

Some critics are stimulating in that they make you realise how you could do better, and those are valued.

I had a number of very strong personalities in my family. My father was a concert flutist, the solo flute for Toscanini.

I became quite successful very young, and it was mainly because I was so enthusiastic and I just worked so hard at it.