Look, a lot of directors were actors, even if they were unsuccessful actors which I think is helpful. I think it's a really helpful thing for a director to have experienced that. It helps you know how to talk to actors and how to get what you need from them.

I acted for so many years and sat on a million sets and worked with a million different directors so that is to me some of the best training you can get.

You really have to get out of an actor's head to write because actors only care about their part and it revolves around their part so "This is the important part because this is the part where..." .

Writing a screenplay is like writing a big puzzle, and so the hardest part, I think, is getting the story.

The Ides of March was a fairly cynical film.

I didnt want to be 50 or 60 and auditioning for a three-line role.

What you learn when you direct a film, even more so than as a producer, it's a marriage. It's like a relationship with that film so you've got to make sure that it's really something that you want to live with for three years or however long it is. So I haven't found the right thing to marry yet.