Directing is much more psychological-it's a lot like being a general. And you have to be organized. While you're making a film, you have between two and 500 people asking you a billion questions.

I call myself a playmaker sometimes - but that's just a word. I don't feel like I have to have a title or a job description.

We tell myths over and over again, lest we forget who we are, lest we not understand that these tales take us through the darkness of our lives, and they put us into a place where you understand what it is to be human.

Americans in particular are myopic. They're not traveling as much. When you were a college student, the next thing you would do on graduation was to take a year off and travel. That's what I did. I went to Indonesia.

I want to experience a performance on all levels - I want goose bumps and I want to leave the movie or play arguing about something that's unresolved.

I've had male executives say that my lead character was unlikable because she slept with a lot of guys.

We're really having a problem right now in our culture. I haven't seen one movie lately in which the story and visuals have been equally good.