The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.

I did do some things different [in John Wick 2], but it's different on basically the same things. Because I have the background from the first film, it was really the first time I was doing judo and jiu-jitsu.

I mean, I went to a Catholic boys school for a year, but that was to play hockey. Religion class was quite contentious for me.

You're playing and you think everything is going fine. Then one thing goes wrong. And then another. And another. You try to fight back, but the harder you fight, the deeper you sink. Until you can't move... you can't breathe... because you're in over your head. Like quicksand.

I had the classic 40 meltdown, I did. It's embarrassing. It was pretty funny. But then I recovered. To me, it was like a second adolescence. Hormonally, my body was changing, my mind was changing, and so my relationship to myself and the world around me came to this assault of finiteness.

I wish I could say something classy and inspirational, but that just wouldn't be our style. ... Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory... lasts forever.

Eventually, it came to this place like, "I'd like to direct, but I need to find the story to tell." Man of Tai Chi became the story to tell.