I had no choice. It was just something that happened. I was always looking for ways to act out, and I got a camera and it acted out for me.

I've always been interested in how we survive and how resourceful we are as Americans.

Desperate times require desperate measures. What Lincoln and the Lobbyist for the Amendment and the Manager of the Amendment and himself, what they did to get this passed was not illegal. It was murky, but what they did was noble and grand. How they went about it was somewhat murky. Nothing they did was really illegal.

It all starts with the script: it's not worth taking myself away from my family if I don't have something I'm really passionate about.

I've kept the people who've been in my career who I feel are my family. Kathy [Kennedy] had been with me since 1978. Janusz Kaminsky, my cinematographer, has made every movie with me since Schindler's List. Michael Kahn has cut every movie I've directed since 1976 when we made Close Encounters together. Rick Carter has done more than 15 of my directed films as a production designer.

I love my kids as individuals, not as a herd, and I do have a herd of children: I have seven kids.

Am I allowed to say I really wanted this? This is fantastic.