I wanted to do a political film that is as nonpartisan as can be, because I wanted to do a story that was American. I wanted to tell an American tragedy.

A creative person has to believe in the unseen and the untouched.

We all have these tendencies in us that could go this way or that. I think that's the real key in writing. To look at a character without judgment.

As soon as you think you know Clint Eastwood, you don't know Clint Eastwood.

All the studios are owned by multinational corporations, which are not usually bastions of the left. So all the actors, writers, and directors - or at least a great majority of them - live in fear because we're all insecure, we all want that next job, we all want to be loved, and we don't want to piss off some studio chief who won't hire us for the next movie.

I don't think writers should write about answers. I think writers should write about questions.

I just always try to find an interesting story and tell it well. That's a hard enough thing to do, whether it's a piece of fiction or it's a small piece of reality. I just look for good story.