Well, I suppose I'm interested in ways of storytelling and in stories that are about storytelling.

I hoped that grief was similar to the other emotions. That it would end, the way happiness did. Or laughter.

I took two years away from making films to write a novel.

I don't know why anybody would come to Ireland chasing a dream or even employment - that's an extraordinary thing for a place where traditionally one was unemployed. For 10 years, people were coming from all over the world looking for employment here, kind of an extraordinary phenomenon. That's stopped now.

Never make a promise - you may have to keep it.

I don't think we have enough imaginary creatures in cinema. It seems like we're stuck with zombies, vampires, and werewolves. We should have everything. We should have minotaurs. We should have elves. We should have mermen in popular culture. But instead we've stuck with vampires.

And I think I often choose to do something because it's quite different from what I've done before.