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

I'm less comfortable making American movies because I don't know them so well.

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

I just got back from New York, and I realized in New York, it's very difficult to hear a New York accent. It's almost impossible, actually - everybody seems to speak like they're from the Valley or something. When I grew up, you could tell what street in Dublin someone's from by the way they talked.

Films have gotten leaner and leaner, cutting out all variations from the story line.

I've had three novels published, and I was working a little bit in theater in Ireland. I wrote one film script just to see what it would turn out like.

Initially with The Butcher Boy, there was this kid growing up in this strange, weird environment that I remember from when I was a kid. And Patrick's vision was so complete there.