Kathryn Bigelow

I really look for peak experiences and dramatic material that can allow peak experiences.

When he brought it to me four years ago, Rodney King had just arrived, I was involved in the clean-up of L.A. and I guess it was part of my experience.

I don't know if I thrive in normal life.

Am I a 'woman of action'? I don't think of myself that way.

Our film examines the heroism, courage and prowess of the Soviet submarine force in ways never seen before.

Perhaps the only thing in my favor is that I am very tenacious. I don't take 'no' very well.

I began to exercise a lot of cinematic muscle with the precepts I had learned in the New York art world. Film was intriguing. I began to think of art as elitist; film was not.

When James Cameron brought me the script, which I developed with both Cameron and Jay Cocks, I wanted to make it a thriller, an action film, but with a conscience, and I found that it had elements of social realism.

I'm interested in social commentary.

Whereas painting is a more rarefied art form, with a limited audience, I recognized film as this extraordinary social tool that could reach tremendous numbers of people.

What's most galvanizing for me is the opportunity to be topical and relevant and entertaining. That's the holy grail.

If there's specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.