I really didn't know what to think about the veil. Deep down I was very religious but as a family we were very modern and avant-garde. I was born with religion. At the age of six I was already sure I was the last prophet. This was few years before the revolution.

I wanted to make a real love story with a bad ending, because a love story that ends good is the life of everyone - you and I, for example. I always say to people, You know, if Romeo and Juliet got married, nobody would care about them. Imagine Romeo and Juliet, six kids yelling, mama, mama, papa, papa.

I'm not a religious person at all.

I was a westerner in Iran, an Iranian in the West. I had no identity. I didn't even know anymore why I was living.

I took three years of karate because of Bruce Lee, you know. I was a green belt.

Once again, I arrived at my usual conclusion: one must educate oneself.

It's fear that makes us lose our conscience. It's also what transforms us into cowards.