I remember watching Mel Gibson on some show once, and he was being asked about his belief in the afterlife. Gibson said: 'Well, I can't believe this is all there is'. And I thought: 'Wait a minute. You're Mel Gibson. You have millions of dollars. You're a great-looking chap with every conceivable blessing that could be bestowed upon a man. And that's not good enough ?'

I never was someone who was at ease with happiness.

Now, my mom always said two wrongs don't make a right. But she never said anything about four wrongs, and that always left me confused.

People assume that I'm very highly trained, that I studied and did years and years of Shakespeare. I have no training whatsoever and I've only done one Shakespeare play at university. If people want to believe that, I'm happy to go along with it.

LA runs on optimism, enthusiasm and flattery. I think you can go a little bit crazy... It's just too damn sunny in every dimension - weatherwise, socially and professionally.

Screenwriting is the most prized of all the cinematic arts. Actually, it isn't, but it should be.

You hope that your teenage self would like and forgive your 50-year-old self.