I saw leaving college as an opportunity to do something different with my life. I always thought that becoming an academic was going to be my path.

I conducted a bunch of interviews for Interview magazine. They actually paid me. I think I was probably 18 or 19. I was in college and I remember feeling, like, "Wow." I had a real job, and they paid me money, and it was exciting.

My kids are young and my life with them is really stimulating and really full and significant.

My mom was always late. It drove me crazy as a child. So I'm always on time - or early.

It's hard to get personal films off the ground, and it's hard developing them.

I was one of those avid moviegoers as a kid, and we didn't have video, so we went to see everything five times. I went to see every foreign film playing in my town. As times went on, I watched a lot less films. I have a different film school now. My film school now is my life experience.

With 'Taxi Driver,' I had this eureka moment. I realized that acting could be much more than what I had been doing. I had to build a character that wasn't me.