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.

It creeps up on you and becomes an obsession. It comes out of watching a million movies.

When it comes to thinking about how a character talks, there are literary and language considerations. For actors to be able to differentiate between themselves and the characters they are playing while at the same time remain in character and spontaneous requires a sophisticated combination of skills and spirit.

I've walked out of films. But for every film I've ever walked out of, I've probably walked out of 500 plays.

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.

I think Michael Caine is a perfectly good actor but it's obvious he's not going to be in one of my films.

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.