You know that when you suggest something on the page, it's going to be there, plus more. It's a great luxury to know that you don't have to push it. You just lay it out, and it will be there.

The story [of Allied] stayed with me, like a stray dog outside the office, waiting.

I think that helps because there has been no formality of friendship, the politeness of friendship, so we can just work directly on the work that's ahead of us [with Tom Hardey].

If you've read something brilliant, it's good. It's good to look out the window and see what's going on in the world.

True stories are always good because they're so odd, and so unlikely.

In terms of how [Allied] looks, it's fantastic and much better than I had hoped because it's so lush and so beautifully executed.

It's always good to have a world that people don't know about - a world that hasn't yet been done. It's like treading on fresh snow. You're the first one there.

No screenplay is possible, unless you get some attachment from somebody who's going to get it made.

Sometimes you take something because it's an offer and it's big and it's good money and you have to absolutely respect that process, because it's not easier.

I've realized that the only thing I'm interested in is the performance. If the performance is right, then I'm happy. You offer up the dialogue and then the performance comes around.

There's lots of different ways of writing stuff and lots of different mindsets to have, but I think when it's your own creation, it's more pleasurable because you have total control.

You are only susceptible to break easily due to occasionally bends if you are inflexible

That just the way it is. Some things will never change. That's just the way it is. But don't you believe them.

The moments that make life worth living are when things are at their worst and you find a way to laugh.

For years I felt that I wasn't ready to take on slavery. It's a huge topic, and I didn't want to mess it up.

I'm a mom, and I'm always looking for ways to encourage, support, and embolden my son to help make him believe in himself.

Women who work at home rearing children and attending to various household tasks are expected to provide something that is absolutely essential yet costs nothing, like the air we breathe.

You can't pick when you're touched. You can't pick the time. It just is. It's the reality. What it is, is. I can't change the past. I can only deal with the present and the future.

You know you have a lot of impatience with reality as you see it when you're a young man and full of dynamism and strength and ideals and so on.

You don't want to be outside during blackfly season.