Truly great actors carry their characters in silence with them. They communicate without words the relationships that predate the movie.

Listen, you make a big movie, you're going into the Coliseum, and people are going to give you the thumbs up or the thumbs down. And that's part of the game. It's part of the fun as well.

When I drive through a field, I want to see green grass sometimes, and I don't want to see black and white.

Confidence is essential, but ego is not.

You've got to work. You've got to want an audience to sit forward in their chairs sometimes, rather than sit back and be bombarded with images.

Actors get pigeonholed very quickly, particularly movie actors. In the theater, one is more used to casting people against type and trusting that their talent and skill will get them through.

I think movies are a director's medium in the end. Theater is the actor's medium. Theater is fast, and enjoyable, and truly rewarding. I believe in great live performance.

You think about taking audiences on a journey.

You've got to believe as a filmmaker that if a movie's good enough, it's going to survive; and if it's not, well, it won't.

This is the first time in 10 years I don't know what I'm doing next and I'm rather enjoying it. Soon I'll be climbing the walls no doubt, but right now, it's not clear, I'm just enjoying the freedom.

The movies that influenced me were movies that told their stories through pictures more than words.

And to him war was a thing like earth and sky and water and why it was no one knew but only that it was.

In this ocean of time, life is smaller than a drop of water. To create an impact, create a massive wave with the power of your infinite love.

Americans worship technology. It's an inherent trait in the national zeitgeist.

Out of chaos, find simplicity, From discord, find harmony.

If a senator calls me up and asks me what should we do in Iraq, I'm happy to talk to him.

My love for prayer was an answer to prayer.

I write pretty much year-round, but I definitely do more when a deadline is looming.

Girls see enough of this body that we can't imitate, that we'll never be able to obtain, these unrealistic expectations...it's better to look strong and healthy...

Go beyond reason to love: it is safe. It is the only safety.

Gifts fall from heaven only in fairy tales.