I tend not to know what the plot is or the story is or even the theme. Those things come later, for me.

Exploitation is a harsh word, I know that, but on a certain level, to me that is the central Hollywood story.

When you tell a story that you know is having an effect on the audience, that, for me, is the transforming thing.

Young actors often ask me how do you get an agent, how do you get started, how do you get to audition, and I don't know what to tell them because my story is so fluky.

When I'm in the car, if you didn't know my story and just saw me driving, you wouldn't know the difference between me and any of the other drivers. I'm just out there competing.

I didn't know 'Homeland' was going to be 'Homeland.' I just did it because it was a terrific script, and they pitched me the story line, and I was like, 'Huh, that's interesting.'

When I do feature films, I usually have a very strong sense of what I want to do. I have topics and subjects, so I go for it. I even know technically what I want to. But in the case of documentary, the story comes to me.

I had written a story. I wrote the story out of some desperation, really, and I didn't know I was writing a story, and it took me years. And when I finished, a friend of mine had the idea that the story should be read as a monologue in a theater.

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