I wanted very much to do Traffic and at one point it looked like I was going to work on it. And then, of course, Catherine Zeta-Jones had her relationship with Michael Douglas and it suddenly didn't happen.

I've never had that fear of going against the grain.

The movies helped define how I should be as a person.

I think it's hard for people to suspend the era they live in and understand the decisions that had to be made often during the western frontier era were life and death. You had to be resourceful and on your feet to try to figure out somebody. You didn't have the benefit of knowing who somebody was.

Conventional wisdom can get us into so much trouble, especially as artists.

I can't say I really see much difference between my son and daughters except that my girls will occasionally make me a sandwich and my son won't.

True movies will never be measured by how much they make - they'll be measured by how they make you feel.