And the thing is, every time you start a new show or do a new series, you're committing to another six years.
Directing takes a lot longer than acting. This was about seven years in development, and then two and a half years with pre-production, production, post and now the release. Not that I have people banging on my door to star in movies, but it takes me out of the acting game for a longer chunk of time.
I don't think I responded very well to the sudden celebrity, the sudden fame, and the loss of privacy.
With the success of the last three or so years, when a lot of people start treating you differently, there's a danger that you may start to think of yourself differently. You rely on your friends to say, 'Hey, wake up!
I would say acting on stage is my first love.
I try to educate myself as much as possible, as I do with the director and the designers and everyone I used to work with. It just helps, I think, with the frame of reference for who you're working with.
I'm very goal oriented.
Can I tell you how strange it is to look in your rearview mirror and see guys in cars tailing you?
If I were given a choice between two films and one was dark and explored depraved, troubled or sick aspects of our culture, I would always opt for that over the next romantic comedy.
I never say never, but I'm really enjoying the freedom I'm having right now.
It was really interesting to be editing the film [Trust] in New York and directing the play in Chicago, and one definitely informed the other. The play probably benefitted more because I realized what scenes could be cut, and I cut those scenes from the play.
I was a geek in high school.
There is a danger, if you cast someone who is 18, 19 or 20 to play 14 or 15, that very subtly, almost unconsciously, the audience is, "Oh, this isn't so bad."
I had invited 50 or 60 peers and friends, most of whom were parents, to see the film [Trust], and I asked about the last scene. It was interesting because it was split right down the middle, 50/50. About half the audience wanted it to end with the very emotional scene between Clive and Liana, and that feeling of realization and catharsis. And, the other half were adamant about keeping that last scene.
I didn't want to be a victim of my own message [in Trust film]. I didn't want to take advantage of a 14-year-old actor. I didn't want there to be any nudity, or any real overt violence. I think it's more terrifying that there is no violence, in that moment. There's control and there's power, but there's no violence.
When you see Liana [Liberato], who at the time was 14, there is an inexperience and innocence that you can't act and you can't fake.
I think it was really crucial that the actress was age appropriate. There are films, such as An Education, where that wasn't the case, and I think that really affects how you receive what you're watching.
