Well, when Kathy Kennedy, who is the president of Lucasfilm, came to me to ask if I'd be interested in working on this "Star Wars" movie, we talked about a young woman at the center of the story from the outset. And it was something that was always an important part of this movie.

I'm not trying to be coy or manipulative or Machiavellian, I want to spark people's imaginations.

I try to push ideas away, and the ones that will not leave me alone are the ones that ultimately end up happening.

I quickly said that, because of my loyalty to 'Star Trek' and also just being a fan, I wouldn’t even want to be involved in the next version of those things. I declined any involvement very early on. I’d rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them.

I find that it's hard to fully examine one's life and not have faith be part of the discussion.

I don't think anyone wants a movie on time that's not worth your time.

I sort of love the idea of, you know, watching something and then having to wait for the next episode.