I always claim that the writer has done 90 percent of the director's work.

At a certain point, you have to convince the actors that you've done the right thing. The way I work, if I can't convince them, I've got to move on. I can't coerce them or browbeat them.

When someone's an actor and you're an actor, you meet them and you feel like you know them. We're in the same business, and we all speak the same comedy language.

Once you're alienated, you're on your own. That takes you to the world of the existential, where things just kind of float.

I'd rather do comedies that strike at some bigger ideas.

I have no trouble selling out—I’m a benevolent hack, in a certain way—but I want to pander for something I believe in.

It's a great luxury for me to be able to write on the films that I direct, and kind of a nice thing to be able to write enough to get credit, which is difficult for a director.