I have always meticulously storyboarded my films from beginning to end.

Ever since I arrived in America to promote Stoker, I haven't had time to go and see it in a theater. The fact that I had to shoot twice as fast as I'm used to in Korea was the most challenging thing about my Hollywood experience.

Some audiences might find homosexuality an uncomfortable subject matter, and a character who is a Japanese collaborator is always uncomfortable.

In my creative films, if there was something, some humorous moment that is lost to a non-Korean speaking audience, I'll be very sad.

Actors are professionals who deal with people's emotions and their thoughts. So, working with this very intelligent, smart cast meant that sometimes I would only have to start speaking a word and these wonderful actors would immediately catch onto what I wanted them to portray, and how I wanted them to act.

Sometimes you need these warm, human moments - something that feels close - to help things along.

When I was growing up, we were taught in school that North Koreans, and especially the North Korean leadership, were all devils.