I didn't do drugs. It wasn't my thing. But the drink was terrible. Today when I look back, it's like I was another person. You could call it a coping mechanism, but that would be an excuse. I just drank too much.

I went and lived in Chicago for a year , and I studied at the police academy.

Sometimes directors feel like they have to justify that hat that they are wearing they've got on as a director, and they come in and they tweak and interfere.

At the Oscars, if you didn't vote for '12 Years a Slave' you were a racist.

Being a good director is knowing sometimes when not to say something.

People have an idea that one is in control of a career, a lot more than you really are. You can engineer things to an extent. But you are at the mercy of what comes in across the desk.

My big love was the Beatles. I was more into music.