I think Catholicism took root very quickly in Ireland because it's a very superstitious religion, the holy ghost, the holy spirit, it has a goddess, very visual, the music.

I love stories that frame that: This is what life is about - you don't have a clue.

We know so little of the why, what the universe is, what infinity is. The veil around us is very fragile.

We're all ordinary in a way. We can all be hurt. We can all be unbalanced. We all have feelings. Life can treat us harshly, even shockingly sometimes.

I just want the actors to put their faith in the language. Just let the words do the work.

It's probably the last thing you think about when you're making a film is other people's problems. You're thinking about your problem, which is making the movie. But you do have a responsibility. You can't mess around with people's emotions.

I could not flourish in the Hollywood system because the first thing spoken about is What genre is it? and Who's it for? It's a very strange question to me it's for human beings.

If I wasn't plagued by needing to write things, that would perhaps be a blessing.

I have a theory about Ireland, being at the edge of Europe. For 1,000 years, people didnt know what was beyond. But we thought about it - a lot. And that beyond became internalized in our psyche.

I started directing out of necessity, the first play I wrote in college because I didn't know anyone who could direct it.

Im living as an artist, and thats a staggering feeling, its a total luxury. And because you have this amazing chance, with so much freedom, Im determined to make something that is worth that. I feel this responsibility - to create something that makes an audience feel, which takes them somewhere. But thats very hard to achieve.