It was shocking to see a leg! You've never seen a leg in these stories. We made it a little saloon girl. We played up on many elements because everything is just very covered and the tights are very thick and heavy. And then to have it all fell apart, absolutely, we wanted to see the leg!

When you are nice to people, they bring their A-game.

I met Shannon Hale through some friends and family. I was interested in her book called Princess Academy, which is just a very sweet, Newbery-nominated fairy tale for young readers. She was like, "Oh, actually I have something else for you." She gave me Austenland. The next morning, I'm sure I called her and I was like, "Let's make this movie." It is so fun. It just felt so girly and great and a great vehicle for the weird Hess comedy.

And our experience in England was that. It was a delight. I had never even been to England and I got to spend five months there in a beautiful estate and just party with these gorgeous men and women and poke fun at their beloved genre, which they all loved. We teased it, but it's so gentle, that you're still swept away the whole time.

I can't handle my own voice, even hearing it echoing on a cell phone. It's horrible.

I would do Winnie the Pooh. We would live in the tree house. We would hunt for honey.

I never think that being a woman is so hard. Maybe don't think about your gender and be confident as you go forward rather than try to single yourself out as some underserved part of filmmaking.