When we're threatened, it's very easy to appeal to our basic natures.

The radical rightwing pegs Hollywood as a leftist town, which is completely wrong. There are a lot of actors, writers, and directors who talk a liberal agenda... but all the studio bosses, for as long as there have been studios, have all been as far rightwing as you can possibly imagine.

You don't make a film because the audience is ready for it. You make a film because you have questions that are in your gut.

What happens when these young men and women come home so scarred and so wounded? We are ignoring that fact. We're just shoving them under the carpet.

The stereotypes we pretend that we reject are ingrained in our DNA.

I was trying to talk about where we are right now as a society, and talk about the fear we all live in, and certainly since 9-11, how it's affected us and the world.

I like to really respect the audience and let them come through on answers.