I remember coming in second in a singing competition when I was about 5. I was terrified and didn't win because I apparently looked miserable.

What's great about the play 'Pygmalion' is that it's sort of two plays. It's the one simple trajectory of girl bettering herself. It's a bet; it's a dare. Will they get away with it? Basic seed: boom. And then it goes into a different direction.

My wife saw a mug somewhere that says, 'I'm silently correcting your grammar.' I think that is perfect thing for me.

I did see - and it really struck me - the late, great Tim Pigott Smith and Michelle Dockery doing 'Pygmalion' at the Old Vic. That was amazing. I remember being rocked to the core by that.

I came out of a sort of experimental background, and I didn't ever really expect - or even desire - a career as a feature filmmaker.

The biggest message I have for young women is, Don't start cutting off branches of your career tree unnecessarily early. Sometimes women say, I know I want to have a family or play in the local symphony, and they start pulling themselves out of their career path. You don't have to take yourself out of the running before you even start.

I offer something very different from the lifelong career politicians who have worked their way up to run for higher office or those who can parachute in with checks for $5 million or $10 million, and that seems to be the definition of credible or legitimate. I'm rejecting that premise.

You have a career, and you start as a business person. And you work your way, you reach this peak, and you know the time's going to come when you go back down.