I feel that my job is to create an atmosphere where creative people can do their best work..

Casting is 65 percent of directing..

And in Hollywood, you know, everyone is an expert. Most of them are expert editors. They can't direct, they can't write, they can't act, but, by God,….

One of the other things I think that I've been able to do in my life, is to listen well.

If you cast the picture correctly, you have a whole lot of leeway. You can make mistakes in other aspects but pull it off with the right actors..

First, speaking for myself, I don't want to ever be in a position where I'm telling other directors how to make movies, because I don't think it's an….

I look at actors very closely. It's not an accident when the actors excel..

I think all great actors - and I don't classify myself as one of them, incidentally - but I think all great actors listen well and I've learned that ….

The first assistant director is just so important that the choice of that person is critical to the movie..

The world is full of beautiful girls. But they're not Angelina Jolie. She's fun, honest, intelligent, gorgeous and divinely talented. She brings a he….

I really, really love directing films..

There are two things I will never do in my life. I will never climb Mount Everest, and I will never work with Val Kilmer again. There isn't enough mo….

I think that you can't make a movie without a script. But you also can't make movies without actors. You also can't make movies without technicians. ….

You have to be a great storyteller. And you have to master the tools that you have to tell the story which are, inorder of importance, the script, th….

Historically the director has been the key creative element in a film and we must maintain that. We must protect that, in spite of the fact that ther….

So I've had really great assistant directors for my last seven movies..

One of the first lessons you learn as an actor is to listen..

It's very eclectic, the way one chooses subjects in the movie business, especially in the commercial movie business. You need to develop material you….

The accolades usually come when you're dead or too old to get a job.

I've found that the more experts you have on a movie, the less control the director has..

I have gotten to a point in my life where I don't want to have dinner with someone I don't like..