Directing an opera is similar to directing a play. The singing must not get in the way of the drama.

Everyone has seen photographs of Mexicans wearing those big sombreros. When you come to Mexico, the astonishing thing is, nobody wears these hats at all.

When I was 24 I went to Nigeria and it was such a culture shock, growing up in Australia and suddenly being the only white man in this unit full of black men.

When the music and the characters are flawlessly synchronized, the opera develops an emotional force that movies and plays cannot match.

In Australia, they set up a special fund to kick films off. It was quite an enlightened sort of move. You could go to this government bureau with scripts and and get finance for films.

There were movies that always made me want to be a director. You see brilliant scenes and the way the emotions were handled. I thought, I'd really like to do that.

With a film, I do my best to understand the author's intentions and try to bring the characters to life.

Film is shot in fragments, and the same moments can be shot again and again until the director is satisfied.

The music of the most popular operas is so highly esteemed, it can stand endless revivals.

It's not enough to hit the notes. There is no point in the singers just standing there and sounding wonderful if they're not connecting with the characters they are portraying.

On stage, the audience watches from a fixed viewpoint and the director cannot retake something he doesn't like. It has to work straight through.

Chaos is God's body. Order is the Devil's chains.

You cannot hate other people without hating yourself.

I think the minute you mention death, people run for the hills - unless it's heavy metal. People do not like death.

My favorite things in life don't cost any money. It's really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.

A diet that is high in fat, sugar and salt makes it really hard for a body to function efficiently.

Surgery is a complicated thing to talk about, but I guess it could also be a dangerous thing to play with if you're not very secure about what you're doing.

I bring to my life a certain amount of mess.

Politics is topical - it's what's happening now, and we can either respond in the present or avoid it.

What is right is more important than who is right.

The nice thing about the fashion industry is that you're constantly working on something new.