When I went home, my family became a little lonely family because it was just me and my mom. Part of my longing to go back to work was wanting to be surrounded by these people who were teaching me things and drinking bad coffee at three in the morning while we were lying around in a bikini in the winter. Somehow it just felt like real life. It felt more like real life than my life.

I've got that Irish thing going on. Lots of Irish in my background.

I didn't have any ambition to produce big mainstream popcorn movies.

'Taxi Driver' was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I didn't become a weirdo and squawk like a chicken.

If I fail, at least I will have failed my way.

Interestingly, when you do films, sometimes you have conscious reasons, things that you were looking for, or stuff that you were trying to do. And then, you see the film and you think, "Wow, it ended up being something totally different!"

I make dark dramas, movies about people living in desperate fear who then overcome that fear and find a heroic side to themselves.