I get plenty of time to re-engage with the world I'm trying to depict, so I'm not always living in these parallel worlds.

It's always very strange to have your life dramatized because it never happens like that. Things will be different.

You can't deny reality just because you can't explain it.

They know you're not Alfred Hitchcock, but you need to be enough Alfred Hitchcock for them not to be bothered by it. That's a reassuring thing.

I often get sent scripts about little men in big situations. There's a comic element to it, which is forces stacked against this little guy, and how is he going to defeat them?

I don't know if it's harder but when you're playing a real person you want to honor their memory - even if they're a criminal or someone that the public loathed. That can be challenging.

One key element to Hitchcock is the drooping jowl. That was crucial because his silhouette is crucial. There is something about his silhouette that became his brand.

I'd love most of the movies I make to be four hours long.

There are far more good actors than there are jobs for them, so it's a big question of luck.

There's not a huge pile of scripts at home. It's what happens to be on the table at that moment with your availability. And then you have no control over when these things come out.

Certainly for my father, there were great times, good times, not-so-good times. He might be shooting a Fellini film for six months, then not working for two months. I'm used to that dynamic.

When everyone lives only for self, life doesn't work.

A student will find that he is more affected by one book which he has truly mastered than by 20 books which he has merely skimmed.

People tend to vote the present tense - not the subjective.

People always want to ask me about my drug problem - I never had a drug problem; I had a self-esteem problem!

Slavery tolerates no freedom of the press, no freedom of speech, no freedom of opinion.

The chief virtue that language can have is clarity.

Everyone's perspective of themselves and others is based on the limitations of their exposure.

You gotta say what you say, Don't let anybody get in your way...

All of my works are performance pieces, as is true for many writers of color, writers who have indigenous roots - because our basis is spoken word.