It's not that the film is violent, it's that people have an issue with violence right now.

Sharing the same vision for what's on the page is always a good idea. The director's job is to establish what that is and make sure that everyone sticks to it when it comes down to actually executing it.

I can't stand to see myself act. It just makes me cringe.

Establishing what the vision is and being able to stick to it is the job, and everyone should be on the same page, going in. With that said, first-time director or not, you never know what you're going to get.

Most actors have a process that they can go through, that they rely on, or that they've discovered, and that can evolve from project to project.

I think all good drama is funny. All the best drama is ultimately very funny. Life is funny. You can't have any honest treatise on life without bumping into some humor.

To me, it's the kiss of death when you start winking at the audience as an actor. I just never liked it. I don't like it when we do monologues, looking into the character.