I work seven days a week and I work about 12 hours a day, from the beginning of September to about the end of May; the school year. I take two days off, Christmas and New Year's, Thanksgiving sometimes - two and a half. And the result is that I bonded myself to my desk.

I must confess that when I'm alone in my study, here in New York, writing; that's when I'm happy.

When I went to school, my intention was to be a lawyer. When I attended university that was still the clear intention; I was going to be a lawyer. Why? Because it was as far as I could get from my father's antics and world. I thought that the world of the arts probably led people into the kind of behavior I had seen with him and that had resulted in a lot of hard times for my mother and me.

Hackman is able to live in the moment which means there is nothing for him at that split second than what is occurring in the scene.

The definition of genius, really, should be that that person can do what the rest of us have to learn how to do.

If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Always accepting the greatest joy of all is the time that I get to spend with my wife.