I think someone's sexual orientation is great fodder for gossip. But again, it's non-news to me or anyone who knows me.

I have no hoarding tendencies whatsoever. I'm a purger. I am constantly throwing things out. Like everyone, I have a scary junk drawer or corner of the closet. And those little dark corners weigh on me enough to know how hard it must be to be a hoarder. And I also think that's why these hoarding shows are so popular, because it taps into something we all feel in ourselves. We hold onto things we don't need.

Accusations against gay schoolteachers figure really prominently in liberal news headlines, because they're attention-grabbing and ratings-getting. They last a news cycle and go away and then you never hear about them again.

I feel very grateful. I wasn't raised with money. My parents were schoolteachers; I was raised on a small farm. It never dawned on me that I would have a job that someone would pay me to do. Much less a job like this. It would be ridiculous if I had any complaints about it. And look - I've had the opportunity to learn an entirely new set of skills, and I'm bringing them to the work I'm doing now in filmmaking.

I feel like the places where I like to live, or study, or visit are places where people's differences are celebrated rather than just tolerated.

I think someone's sexual orientation is great fodder for gossip. But again, it's non-news to me or anyone who knows me.

Whenever you create something that has a gay theme, it's inherently political. It's important that the intentions of the people behind the project be known. In discussing my sexual orientation, I found it to be germane to the topic of the film. It's what made The Green relatable and personal to me, but I've been out since I was 19. I've never been in the closet, so to say.