The real Jack Johnson was both more and less than those who loved or those who hated him ever knew. He embodied American individualism in its purest form; nothing - no law or custom, no person white or black, male or female - could keep him for long from whatever he wanted.

I have always had a great interest in visually documenting the past.

Most filmmakers aren't very interested in history. They worry constantly that people will be bored.

Bill Murray is a wonderful actor, and he's very funny, and I've seen him be serious and terrific.

Because in both TV and film every story under the sun is being told, and so music shouldn't be restricted to have to follow, like, the John Williams template or something. I love John Williams, but that sound doesn't suit every story.

Creative non-fiction is such a liberating genre because it allows the non-fiction writer, whether he or she be journalist or essayist, to use all of the techniques of the fiction writer and all of the ideas, creative approaches, that fiction writers get a chance to use, but they have to use it in a true story.

I think art, more than anything else, helps humans to synthesize emotion and to synthesize parts of ourselves, so therefore, as an artist, I feel a responsibility to try and facilitate that synthesis.

I really like writing music. That's kind of like my little hobby. I like that because sometimes you don't really have any control when you're an actor, over what you're doing next, and everything is kind of decided by other people. You're always waiting to hear from people.