It was always my dream to be a director. A lot of it had to do with controlling my own destiny, because as a young actor you feel at everyone's disposal. But I wanted to become a leader in the business.

I think it's in our nature to try to get beyond that next horizon. I think that when we as a species are scratching that itch we're actually following an evolutionary compulsion that is wired into us. I think good things come of it. That's the philosophical side.

A long time ago, I stopped trying to look at projects as genre exercises.

The sooner we become a multi-planet species, the safer the species is, and the stronger the guarantee that we're going to continue to evolve.

I've acted with all types, I've directed all types. What you want to understand as a director, is what actors have to offer. They'll get at it however they get at it. If you can understand that, you can get your work done.

It was always hard to find stories that I felt were, in and of themselves, fresh enough and intriguing enough .

I just don't think of myself as an actor much at all, so I don't lust after any particular roles.

I've just looked for ideas and great characters that I relate to and that I think I can offer something to the audience, and I no longer look at them as experiments or genre exercises at all.

One of the great things about being a director as a life choice is that it can never be mastered. Every story is its own kind of expedition, with its own set of challenges.

Death can be experienced once, winning maybe more, but losing can happen all the time.

You reach a point where you say you're not going to do juveniles any longer.

You're always a little surprised when something really takes off.

I think the most important thing really was that you could take very personal ideas and present them to an audience in entertaining ways.

Every religion, in my opinion, has something to bring, and I think we all learn from everyone that there's no right, perfect way to look at something.