There is a certain kind of respect for authenticity today that there wasn't back in the days when they did 'Cleopatra,' where everything looked like a giant motel. People want to have it be authentic in the look, and authentic in the way people behave.

Everybody's a filmmaker today.

I'm the barbarian of Hollywood.

Matter of fact, the style that people use today, I invented in a way.

I've always had trouble with authority.

Films are always pretentious. There's nothing more pretentious than a filmmaker.

Writing requires a great deal of skill, just like painting does. People don't want to learn those skills.