I just always knew that I lived in two worlds. There was the world of my house and community, but to make my way in that white world I had to modify the way I spoke and acted. I had to sometimes not make direct eye contact.

I understand the rural south because I spent a lot of time in it when I was a kid and my grandfather’s brothers were farmers and I spent time on the farm when I was a kid with them walking through the fields and working and hanging out.

I never did one thing right in my life, you know that? Not one. That takes skill.

I'm pretty focused on what I do. I think directing is a very specific talent, and I'm not real big on putting puzzles together, which is basically what a film is.

My dad was an absentee dad, so it was always important to me that I was part of my daughter's life, and she deserved two parents, which is part of the rationale behind us staying married for 30 years.

Jackson doesn't bother to read the scripts anymore. He just checks to make sure he has one loud scene where he gets to shout, then cashes the paycheck.

Everybody likes an extraordinary person or likes to think that they would be great with a superpower in an ordinary world.