Physical hunger and physical poverty is something I could only imagine. I've been poor when I was in China... As kids we never had to starve, but just didn't have enough meat, enough rice.

Since age 14, I know what actors fear, what they like; I know how to get things out of them and I listen to them better, since I've been there.

My fairy-tale life ended the moment I wanted to apply for a passport.

How do you explain certain physical qualities that somehow sell on screen? You're born with it... Certain people are just more watchable, and I was more watchable, but I don't think I understood acting or drama very well when I was a kid.

I would say it's like a meditative process, to have everything done for you every morning.

The young people, they don't knock on the door politely and say "May I come in?" They barge in, they take your seat, and you're obsolete unless you recreate and somehow find grace somewhere else. Another profession may not be like that.

I miss directing. I see stories in images and music more so than in dialogue.