For me, certain shots or scenes are keys in the movie.

There have been screenwriters who I'm sure would gladly kill me, because I've been very fast and loose with their work, because I felt like it wasn't up to my high standards. I would push and pull it on set, and make changes all the time. But then when you're working with an original screenplay, my theater instincts kick in, and I suddenly become very keeper-of-the-words.

I don't think good and evil are polarized.

I've made movies that cost less than one car chase. But that's part of the pleasure of doing it, pushing yourself in new directions.

There's one thing better than having a great actor, and that's having a great actor who's never done this kind of role before and is hungry to do it. They're testing themselves every day. They want to get out of their trailer and get to work.

When I drive through a field, I want to see green grass sometimes, and I don't want to see black and white.

If you're doing a classic play, where if you do a Chekhov, you do the words as written. You can't do that with a novel; you have to do your version of the words as written.