Perhaps the only thing in my favor is that I am very tenacious. I don't take 'no' very well.

I'm drawn to provocative characters that find themselves in extreme situations. And I think I'm drawn to that consistently.

I realised that there's a more muscular approach to film-making that I found very inspiring.

One of the elements in the film that really fascinated me was not to look at the world in bi-polar terms of us vs them or east vs west, which was a by-product of the Cold War.

Whereas painting is a more rarefied art form, with a limited audience, I recognized film as this extraordinary social tool that could reach tremendous numbers of people.

For some individuals - some soldiers, some contractors - combat provides a kind of purpose and meaning beyond which all else potentially pales in comparison.

What's most galvanizing for me is the opportunity to be topical and relevant and entertaining. That's the holy grail.