I always try to do true endings and that's where I got into trouble always because Hollywood wants to do happy endings.

I've seen Joe take on many battles, cancer being one of them, and the determination that he has, and he won't stop, he's not going to make one announcement and write one editorial and go away.

There are no crowds out there demanding to see smoking scenes in movies.

And the inner dynamics of Hollywood are like politics. Say you give a script to a group of executives - they all sit around, afraid to voice an opinion, saying nothing, waiting to know what the consensus is. Just like focus groups, opinion polls or a cabinet.

I just wanted to make sure that what I write is what appears on screen, to not have some idiot change it on its way to the screen.

Anyone I think who - that would go through a cancer ward and would see the result of what smoking does, would never, ever think of smoking is sexy again.

Fact is we went on to do other things. But we still wanted to do our success like rock'n'roll stars.