My job apart from anything else is to build an ensemble composed of actors who all come from a secure place so that they can all work together to make the film.

When I was young I used to sit in the cinema thinking wouldn't it be great if you could have a film in which the characters were like real people instead of being like actors.

I try and create for the audience something that relates to real-life experience.

Given the choice of Hollywood or poking steel pins in my eyes, I'd prefer steel pins.

I hope I make films where you walk away . . . with work to do, arguments to have, things to worry about, things to care about. In that sense, I would regard what I do as political.

My work is about life as you and I experience it. You're either lucky or you're not lucky; either your relationship works or it doesn't.

But films should be voyeuristic. What else is a film if you’re not snooping into somebody else’s lives?

There's a constant drip and trickle of life that goes into one's awareness really and consciousness of things.

I discover what my film is by embarking on the journey of making it.

The way an actor is trained doesn't ultimately have much bearing on my work. I'm interested in the actor as artist.

It's an unhealthy habit to say that life is what you make of it, and if you want to be happy, then you can be happy. That's just rubbish, basically.

The greater the fear, the greater the opportunity for growth.

They will never stop talking about you! No one can tell your story like you can!

We are gods in the chrysalis.

I felt my eyes widen slightly, feeling like the kid of the group who didn’t understand anything and was a pain to have around.

I have stacks and stacks of journals. I'll change the names if I ever decide to publish them.

Don't try to fine-tune somebody else's view.

Becoming a mother has made me even more aware and more passionate about nutrition and wellness. So much so that I am now a certified health coach practitioner.

Faith is the eternal elixir. It gives life, power, and action to the impulse of thought.

The vow of celibacy is a matter of keeping one's word to Christ and the Church. a duty and a proof of the priest's inner maturity; it is the expression of his personal dignity.

Planning is a process of choosing among those many options. If we do not choose to plan, then we choose to have others plan for us.