I really wanted to make a nonpolitical political film. I wanted something that folks in red states and blue states could look at and not ask if this is the right thing to do to be in this war, but what this war is doing to the fabric of our society.

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.

As a general rule, I don't plan to travel with my Oscars, but we may have to make an exception.

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

We never did just one take. Multiple takes. Many. I did a bunch. Sometimes I do one take. Sometimes I did 20.

I try not to think of actors as I'm writing because I think you do them a disservice by writing for things they've already done.

We give you characters we'd feel very comfortable judging, and then go: 'Oh yeah? Watch this'.