With ‘Taxi Driver,’ I had this eureka moment. I realized that acting could be much more than what I had been doing. I had to build a character that wasn’t me.
It’s very hard for me to get a new car. It’s really hard for me to get a new house. It’s really hard for me to move on from the things that give me stability.
The movies I made when I was 14 or 15, I have a hard time looking at those. Those were the awkward years. I don’t know if anybody can look at something they did when they were 14 and not wince.
I think anybody over 30 plays parents because it happens in your thirties and so that’s kind of a natural progression. But I’m definitely drawn to it. It’s probably the most intense, passionate thing that happens to you as you get older.
I do think it’s true that anytime somebody comes to you and says, “I’d like to be in your film,” it’s never good to dismiss them or make fun of them, because if they’re passionate and driven enough, they very well might find a way to be in your film.
I make movies about people in spiritual crisis because it’s a way for me to spend the time, the energy, the focus and the obsession to come to terms with my own spiritual crisis.
I was one of those avid moviegoers as a kid, and we didn’t have video, so we went to see everything five times. I went to see every foreign film playing in my town. As times went on, I watched a lot less films. I have a different film school now. My film school now is my life experience.
As I’ve said before, and I still hold to, I truly am the most boring person alive. And if there was a great investigation to be found at the end of the resume, it would be, the most boring person alive.
What the digital age has offered us, in terms of connectivity and transparency, is that all of these people from weird places in the world are all talking to each other, at four in the morning, and are sharing ideas. There’s more openness than has ever been known, so that’s a good thing.
My mom was always late. It drove me crazy as a child. So I’m always on time – or early.
Most actors don’t really have a director’s sensibility. They have an actor’s sensibility.
There are lots of futurists that spend their whole life trying to figure out who we’re going to be in 40, 50, 60, 100 years. That’s the great thing about science fiction.
I wish people could get over the hang-up of subtitles, although at the same time, you know, that’s kind of why I’m kind of pro dubbing.
I make dark dramas, movies about people living in desperate fear who then overcome that fear and find a heroic side to themselves.
I love the way L A. leaves you alone. I can go home, read all day, and nobody bugs me.
There is no direct evidence, so how could you ask me to believe in God...
It’s a tough trick to be able to create an intelligent movie that has socio-political commentary, and also has the emotional and moving stuff, at the same time.
I wish that I spoke more languages. I speak a couple languages, but not well enough to really dub myself. French is really the only one, and it’s a difficult thing.
I didn’t work very much when they were young, and I had the luxury to be able to do that. Most people can’t.
It’s very important to distinguish between chemical depression that requires medication and talk therapy.
Sometimes, you really don’t understand why something is important to you until you get halfway through the movie – or maybe even all the way through.