The best set was probably 'Bloody Sunday.' We had no money for extras and gambled on months of outreach to persuade the people of Derry to turn out and march for us on one single afternoon. And they did. In their tens of thousands. Seeing them march, their patience and their dignity and their commitment, I knew the movie would have a quality of truth.

What are the stories you want people to tell about you?

A real explosion is not only much more fun to shoot, it also helps the actors and creates an energy on set and ultimately in the scene.

The key is, how do you feel with the one asshole? They cannot be talked to. That's why they are assholes.

You're being mean to someone who's helping you. What is that? Everyone knows who the assholes are, and I avoid them.

I grew up mostly in the South, and there's definitely something about the South that's different from the North. When people ask me where I'm from, I say Louisiana. I spent more years there than anywhere else.

When things go right it's hard to figure out why, but when things go wrong it's really easy.