My profession is about as far away from growing up in southern Illinois as you can get.

A dream job is to walk right past hair and makeup.

I gravitated back to theatre again, and when I heard about this little independent movie called 'Lady Bird,' I thought, 'This will be a project where I can dip my toe back into the water.'

I'm not trying to blow out a camera lens or make the audience's hair go straight back from my sheer volume, sheer energy level.

If you're writing for yourself as an artist, you are always pulling on your own experiences.

Put off your imagination, as you put off your overcoat, when you enter the laboratory. Put it on again, as you put on your overcoat, when you leave.

As much as I love to do commercial films, a touching romantic film like Mani Ratnam's 'Geethanjali' will satiate my creative appetite.

The nature of having ideas and creativity is incredibly inspiring.