My favorite thing is watching people watch The Hollars movie and then come up to me and say whether they went through an experience like that or they went through an experience nothing like that, but it still was their mom or "that was my brother" or whatever it was - that's great.

We were looking to collaborate with someone on both those fronts [ writing and directing] and it ended up just being me [in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men]. So, at this point, it's the epitome of a passion project and I just hope people like it.

I'm a huge classics fan. I love Ernest Hemingway and J.D. Salinger. I'm that guy who rereads a book before I read newer stuff, which is probably not all that progressive, and it's not really going to make me a better reader. I'm like, 'Oh, my God, you should read To Kill a Mockingbird.

I don't think I've ever signed onto anything as quickly as I did The Hollars, because I come from a really loving, well-connected family, where we see each other all the time. And when I was done with this script, I was like, "Oh my god, that's my family!" This is obviously a very dysfunctional family, but there was something about it that was sort of universal. And I think that in this day and age in today's world - there's a lot of drama out there. It's nice to tell stories about things as simple and powerful as family.

A lot of times in movies, you see the "small town" people, being bowled over by this creative entity or this corporate ideal, and it's not true, at all.

I fell in love with the book [ Brief Interviews with Hideous Men] and always wanted to do something with and fought to get the rights, which was pretty fun and an incredible experience in itself.

Ninety percent of your job is done if you find the right cast.