I would come to L.A. for a job, but I love New York.

My first audition was an open call and I had no picture and no resume - that's how clueless I was. I just thought I could show up.

I assume Obama knows about stop and frisk, so this is not the person that should be the head of homeland security. I had to say something. Kelly's nomination would go against who President Obama is.

There are conservative people in all colours in America.

You look up to your parents and you want them to accept you, and you don't want them to look at you in a negative light. So you do things to make them proud and accept you.

That's what you want art to do, to open people up and start conversations.

My mother's a pretty warm, open person.

I want to tell authentic, real stories with real characters.

I think L.A. is beautiful.

I love that you can watch a film and 10 years later still be affected.

I have a Twitter handle, but I never sign on.

and the two of them loved each other for a long time in silence without making love again.

Love, deep and pure, it opens my heart. It feels like a magical force, one I’d fight to protect, one I’d die to keep.

The one regret I have about my own abortions is that they cost money that might otherwise have been spent on something more pleasurable, like taking the kids to movies and theme parks.

There wasn't a key moment when I knew I wanted to quit.

I can't think of any one film that improved on a good novel, but I can think of many good films that came from very bad novels.

I love Gershwin. I love musicals.

They grow stiff in the joints. They get in a rut. They go to seed.

It's nice when your dad can be your friend.

I grew up during the Revolution of Iran and the war between Iran and Iraq. The things that I saw. The impact. How it changes you. How it changes the way you look at the world.

If someone says you're not strategic, try to figure out what that means and then tell him or her to go to hell.