I've been lucky to have a beautiful wife and children. The idea that something so beautiful can be so horrific at the same time. Beauty is a complex thing.

I think when you make a movie, one of your main focuses as a director is to inspire everyone else to give their best. Like manipulation.

The conversations about a film are an example of success because then you know whatever you've done has resonated.

I can do my part of the storytelling. I can carry it. I can paint it. I can maneuver it. I can massage it. But if I don't have anything to work with, then there's nothing.

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

I've done collaborations in all my movies, and I think it's part of what I enjoy about the process. This kind of intimacy that you create. Because it becomes very intimate.

[The Neon Demon] was more my own fascination with beauty. It's my children's fascination beauty.