“I gave him a bunch of ideas and then Vincent helped guide me and develop this particular film. I enjoy that rapport to have somebody else help guide me in my choices for the next film.”

I have many projects in various states of development. Some are on paper and some are in my head. But as I go on, I feel the need to be guided in my choices.

The poetic way of looking at it is which project is going to choose me as a director.

What really enthralls me is working with the actor and seeing where you can go with that. It’s in that exchange and that relationship.

My film (Black Venus) had been very emotionally draining and difficult because I had identified so much with the lead character, Saartjie Baartman.

The importance is getting to something truthful and in that moment can only be in that moment. I don’t like to use the word “improvise,” but it’s a continual writing of the film.

To use an image, making a film is like climbing a mountain or crossing an ocean. Every day has its challenges.

The writing of the script is a continual process. There’s the first draft and then many, many re-writes here and there.

This film [ Blue is the Warmest Color] actually is the result of me talking with my producer Vincent [Maraval].

I didn’t really think in terms of clichés or non-clichés.

I grew up in and identify with and that she works and exists in.

When it comes time to make the scenes concrete and shoot them, I want the freedom for it to exist which means adding, subtracting or modifying.

I don’t come to work as an actor. There are many directors who can direct without ever having acted and do a great job and connect with their actors and lead them to excellent performances without themselves having had an acting background.

Every day, there’s that tension and the pressure. Each scene that you shoot is like getting to that next step, but there’s still that mountain to climb. So it’s not like one day is harder or one scene is harder. They are all equally challenging.

I mean getting people to think about what language actually means before they use it is a good thing.

In the book, D’Artagnan doesn’t actually become an official Musketeer until quite near the end.

People, instead of competing, they can actually support each other, in music.

I think ultimately what you really want is a few people within any label that are into the band enough to really work on it every day for a long time and to actually try a little bit.

it was actually mummified, skin and all – but in a fit of space-saving zeal, they actually cut off the head and they cut off the feet and they burned the rest in a bonfire.

I actually had less time and the exact same budget on Hairspray, which was few years ago and this is a much bigger movie [then Rock of Ages]. That’s the way studios do it now.

Practically no one actually does.

Realizing that everyone (consciously or subconsciously) feels alone too – but no matter what, we’re actually ALL together – is what has helped evolve my way of thinking about it.