After I got out of the studio system, I was completely [broke] for the 30th time; they said I’d never work again. So I’m going to go and produce those movies that they wouldn’t let me do.

You asked me my favorite question: What happened and what did you learn from being under contract to MGM? And the answer is I know how to make movies. I understand how to do that. I've been doing that my whole life. It's just easier to raise the money yourself and then hire yourself. It's possible if you reduce your own budget a little.

Basically, I'm a shy human being. Very introverted.

I doubt anyone in Hollywood has had more 'dates' than me.

One works in this business - if one works. You do different types of movies.

John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola and Oliver Stone - those guys are consummate filmmakers. They believe that you don't talk it, you show it. So when I find a role now, I try to find a visual way to tell what the character is about rather than trying to speak about it.

There's so many characters they [studios] are not letting me play. And I thought, "Why don't you just go produce it yourself?".