Some Directors Hardly Talk To

I Think, In Fact, There's A Plus And A Minus To Knowing My Prior Work, Happiness And So Forth. The Plus Is Of Course You Can See How I Play With The Characters, The Storylines, And The Way Things Play Off Each Other. And The Minus Is That It Makes You A Little Bit More Self-conscious, That You're Not Able To Enter The Movie As It Exists And Lives And Breathes, Because You're So Busy Making References, Connections That You're Not Able To Release Yourself From And Take The Film On Your Own Terms.

When Part Of What You're Trying To Get At Is The Truth Hidden Under A Taboo, Or When You Want To Nail A Hypocrisy, Laughter Is A Very Useful Tool. I Want To Show The Painful Side Of Existence, But There Is No Question I Also Want To Make People Laugh.

Storytelling Is The Only Studio Movie Where The Censorship Is Perfectly Clear, The Only Studio Movie With A Big Red Box Covering Up A Shot. I Take Pride In That - And, Of Course, In Having Avoided The Fate Of Eyes Wide Shut.

That Said, Be Mindful, To Someone Who's Never Seen Any Of My Work, It's Just A Movie With Actors. So It's Only Those Who Of Course Know The Earlier Work That Will See Something Is Afoot, So To Speak. But I Don't Want To Intellectualize.

You Try To Make Them Comfortable So They Can Do What They're Best At, And Make Them Shine. You Always Want To Make An Actor Shine. I'm Of The Mind That There's No One - You, Your Mother, Anyone, That If In The Right Place At The Right Time In The Right Context, Couldn't Shine In A Movie. And So If It Means, "oh, I Have To Make Them Uncomfortable," Then Whatever It Takes To Get What I Need Up Onscreen. It's All In The Service Of The Story.