My job apart from anything else is to build an ensemble composed of actors who all come from a secure place so that they can all work together to make the film.

In the first place, I'm pretty thorough about whom I choose. I instinctively look for the kind of actor who is going to be trusting. There are all kinds of insecure people out there called actors.

I have to get out of bed every day to make something happen.

But films should be voyeuristic. What else is a film if you’re not snooping into somebody else’s lives?

It's an unhealthy habit to say that life is what you make of it, and if you want to be happy, then you can be happy. That's just rubbish, basically.

There is a great tradition of independent filmmaking in the U.S. that I absolutely respect. There's some wonderful stuff that comes out in this country against all the odds.

My work is about life as you and I experience it. You're either lucky or you're not lucky; either your relationship works or it doesn't.