I think it's your own ghost, seeing the work and just thinking if it will be okay to leave that around.

Many people say to me, "I saw [Miral] and it really stayed with me. I woke up the next day and really thought about it, and have been thinking about it for awhile." That was my goal.

I think it's good when people don't write good things about your work. I mean, what a great compliment it is to be called a charlatan.

When I'm making a movie, I don't like to know what's going to happen next. I like to watch something and be surprised all the time, and just not know, and let it take me wherever.

If I hung one of my paintings next to someone else's, I knew mine would kind of pop off the wall.

When I made my first film, Basquiat, I think one of the criticisms was that the way I work is episodic. Later, as people started to look at the movies, they started to realize that maybe that's my style. If I could do it better or another way, I guess I would.

It's nice to see your name in print. It's interesting.