I think that's the struggle of our normality is that we have oppressed desires because of what is accepted and not accepted in society.

The act of creation can be an extreme violent experience.

In a way, art is a great way to release your love, fantasy, and desires. It's like a fetish. It's a comfortable way of excising a lot of your conscience.

Doing your first film, it's very important that it's a commercial success, because that gives you a couple times to experiment until you have to hit the jackpot again.

You ask actors what they would like to do, and you constantly keep them engaged. You want their engagement, input, and sensibilities. It's that intimate collaboration that is actually directing. I don't like the mechanicalness or coldness; I like the intimacy. It's like we are creating a child together.

I very much enjoy my freedom creatively but I also would love to make one of those big Hollywood films that costs a lot of money and has a lot of people running around with cell phones and all that insanity.

I think that Danish people may be thought off as the happiest people, but honestly...I love America.