The problem with cinema nowadays is that it's a math problem. People can read a film mathematically; they know when this comes or that comes; in about 30 minutes, it's going to be over and have an ending. So film has become a mathematical solution. And that is boring, because art is not mathematical.

The fairy tale always takes place in worlds that are between, unidentifiable.

We live in a beauty-obsessed culture, which on one hand is absolutely fabulous, but on the flip side, is also dangerously extreme.

Sometimes you can play against type, or you can just repeat what they've already done. It can be an obstacle; it's a very fine line.

Filmmaking is like any kind of art form. You have to try to figure it out, and you're going to do that by trying. It's like teaching a child to walk. It may start by walking, but eventually it will fall. And I have kids, but I know that that will enable them to stand up again and understand why they fell, and how they can avoid that. They will walk better and faster, and stronger. Filmmaking is the same.

Jenna Malone was a very important piece of how the film [The Neon Demon] turned out.

Understanding one's own power is more interesting than someone being given something powerful.