Obviously, if you have a big creative difference with someone
about what the meat of the story is, that is an issue.
But if you two are trying to tell the same story
and you have slightly different ways of getting there,
I think it's really important to empower actors and not make them feel like props.
I think the first moment that I felt, sort of, obsessed by film and TV in a way
that was really bewitching was when I saw the film A League of Their Own,
directed by Penny Marshall.
When I finished, I just wanted to watch it again,
and then I wanted to watch it again
to the degree where my father had to continue to check it out of the video store
over and over and over until I broke the tape.
It was just
the first time that I understood, sort of, beyond, like, children's television,
that film could be this window into who you were, who you wanted to be,
the idea that maybe there were people behind movies
that made them, and it really, sort of, changed my entire outlook on the form.
You know, it's interesting because while I love film and television,
it doesn't tend to be the first place that my inspiration comes from.
I really think that, like, books, poetry, music
tend to have, like, a deeper impact on my own creative process.
There’re obviously shows that have changed the way I think about television.
And a good example would be the first time
I saw My So-Called Life, and I understood that TV could really engage us
on this, sort of, deeper, more cellular level.
But when I'm thinking about, sort of, the books that I want to return to
over and over, it's, sort of, female authors throughout history.
Whether it's Sylvia Plath or Zora Neale Hurston,
or just an array of women who have told stories,
you know, as far back as Christine de Pizan. Like, women who have really
pushed their form and told stories.
A film or television show that I keep returning to?
A film that I keep returning to because of how beautifully made I think it is,
and it reminds me and, sort of, revivifies me when I’m trying to think about
what we do with this medium, is Sally Potter's Orlando.
It's her direction. It's Tilda Swinton's performance.
It's what it has to say about gender.
It's the way it engages Virginia Woolf's text.
I definitely wouldn't call that a guilty pleasure.
I would call it just a pure pleasure.
If we want to go guilty, let's say Mrs. Doubtfire.
I think my creative goal, whatever project I'm doing,
whatever genre or whatever medium, is just to try to tell the truth.
And it doesn't have to be my truth, but it just has to be
the truth about... The truth at the bottom of the story.
And so, it can be a big, bold, engaging story,
it can be funny, it can be light,
but as long as it's being honest, then I feel like I've done my job.
I guess I would just tell my younger self to slow down and that a career in
this business is a marathon, not a race, and that it's okay
to take time to refill your cup,
let's say, by reading, or painting, or taking a walk.
And I think it's such a... We are in this business
that places such a primacy on youth and on immediacy
and on, sort of, being this, like, young, fresh prodigy that people can hook onto.
But actually the real goal after you tell your first story,
is to get to continue to tell stories.
And so it's alright to slow down.
I really believe that, you know, there... that you write a character
and then when you cast an actor,
particularly an actor that you trust, the character becomes theirs too,
and you guys are working together to create this.
And so, I really welcome actors giving me their opinion.
I want them to feel confident, thrilled and excited to say every single line.
And so if there's something--
Obviously if you have a big creative difference with someone
about what the meat of the story is, that is an issue.
But if you two are trying to tell the same story
and you have slightly different ways of getting there,
I think it's really important to empower actors and not make them feel like props.
I think the biggest mistake I've ever made as a writer or director is to rush,
and to rush myself in ways I didn't need to be rushed.
Yes, it's good to finish your day on time and leave your crew happy.
But there’s no gold medal for speeding through things.
And there's no gold medal for speeding through drafts.
And there's no gold medal for
not taking the time to get notes and engage people in a deep way.
And doing that, being more thorough.
And the people in my life luckily have reminded me, that it’s only ever made anything better.