“I’ve directed independent film.”

The thing that stood out above and beyond all the experiences was this relationship with the nine-month-old baby. On weekends, I’d be thinking about going back to set on Monday just to see the baby.

I’ve been auditioning since I was 7 years old.

It’s like you have a child and you think, ‘Everything that I’ve done up until this point is insignificant in comparison to being a father.’ It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Filmmaking is such a collaborative piece of art that you can’t look to one person – you couldn’t look to me, you couldn’t say, ‘Because Vin’s in it, it’s this or that.’ It’s really all of us coming together for that period of time to try and make magic.

You get a timeless cool card in New York.

Of course, I don’t act in an extreme fashion in my day to day life. I don’t think any of us live do. I think we all have that reserve somewhere and we pull upon it when we need it.

I grew up with all kinds of people.

It’s really bizarre because no one knows this, but elephants have killed more animal trainers than any other animal.

I was the oldest of the children in my family. I had to do a lot of diaper-changing and lunch-making. I was taking my little sister to ballet, picking up my brother, sort of being a super-nanny.

I started acting when I was seven-years-old. By the time I was 17 I would say: “If I’m not a star by the time I’m 18, I’ll get out of the business.”

I used to feel guilty about owning a console.

That’s what I love. I love thinking about the film, the project and committing myself as much as possible.

The whole year I was in LA I got into telemarketing and learned how to make money. Five years later that skill helped me make my first film.

I’m not disciplined enough to be a writer consistently. I write when I have to.

Deal-making goes on with any job.

I love women more than anything.

The only way that Hollywood ever skews toward liberal is because part of what we make out of Hollywood involves writers, actors, directors, musicians, set designers, and photographers.

I like great directors who are scarce. Prolific ones are nice too but for me, there’s something about the scarcity that makes it all the more valuable.

When an actor plays a scene exactly the way a director orders, it isn’t acting. It’s following instructions.

Anyone with the physical qualifications can do that. So the director’s task is just that – to direct, to point the way. Then the actor takes over.

My advice to female directors is not to wait until you feel like your ideas have been pre-certified or until you think you’ve gotten some approval for them.

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

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.

In my experience as a director, I think there is obviously something of the way men – maybe that’s a common point with Shirin – the way men see women in the film, and the way these two characters see each other.