That is definitely a misunderstanding between me and a part of my audience. To be honest, I am often unsettled by the responses some people have had to my movies, and that includes many people who like them.

What makes me angry is the idea that people would be going to a movie because of what I said about it. It makes me feel, I don't know, arrogant, self-important, self-aggrandizing, whatever. Like I'm being used.

I love working with actors. I do.

I've always said that I myself am not the best audience for my own work, because I'm just not that receptive to comedy.

Casting is everything. If you get the right people they make you look good.

At eleven I was at the peak of my creative powers: I was writing stories and playlets, putting together poetryprojects. I was absorbed by my 'work.' At twelve I was no longer reading or writing, just counting off days and checking them off. I was interested in survival.

I love working with actors. If you cast the right person in the right part at the right time, they make you look like a better writer and director than you really are.