I believe in storytelling, not story-selling. I want people to believe the characters are real. So I'm a realist.

I think most Muslims are incredibly upset with the state of America's foreign policy today and the state of the world.

I really want to make art. I want to create something that's going to have a lasting impact.

Seventy-five percent of Americans don't even have passports. We don't even think about traveling beyond our borders.

To strip yourself from a lot of the things around you that make you comfortable is a really challenging thing that most of us don't do or don't get a chance to do.

Part of living is understanding where the fringes are. Once you know how far people go, you can say, "Well, here's how I choose to represent myself."

I think that when you have somebody who really is kind of forced to see the world through someone else's eyes, I think it really is eye opening.