Ang Lee

I think great romance needs great obstacles and textures.

The source of all the material comes from nothingness, illusion is working more on things you can prove. That's the principle, the essence of life, it is actually an illusion, not immaterial. That's worth pursuing. So illusion is not nothing. In a way, that is the truth.

3D is quite a lot more advanced in animated movies; for live-action movies we're just taking baby steps, we're just in the beginning.

These days I'm mostly familiar with two parts of L.A.: one is movie culture, and the other is Asian culture. The Westside is work, and the Eastside is Chinese - which means my friends.

In my culture, there's a tradition that when you're in an overwhelming situation and you don't know what to do, you put yourself in a woman's shoes.

I have two sons in America, and all they care about in Chinese culture is Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

My culture doesn't regard acting highly.

The woman's perspective is like the dark side of the moon: it always exists, but it is never exposed, at least not in my culture.

After making several tragic movies in a row, I was looking to do a comedy, and one without cynicism.

Thinking back to those earlier days, I felt I was weak when I wasn't making movies, and then when I was, I thought I was weak as a family member.

It's not a pleasure torturing actors, although some of them enjoy it.

Not taboo - it's just that straight actors still risk their careers commercially and economically. They have to please the crowd - they're movie stars; their image is their industry. It goes beyond acting.