I've been making films with almost no dialogue (laughs), so sound and music become a very powerful character to tell the story. It's almost like with sound and music and images, it's your tool to tell the story, especially when I decide to structure the film in a way that usually goes against the conventions of the three-act structure which most films are made out of.
I always think once you have the lead protagonist, you cast around that character.
I think that television has become really, really interesting, in terms of character development. You can have 13 hours to develop a character, as opposed to 25 minutes in a movie. That excites me.
The character requires so many elements. The only one who could fulfill that was this one person: Elle Fanning.
The casting of any film is around 60% of the film, but it's also about the right casting insight. It's a bit like a house of cards, everyone has to match up in a certain way so the whole structure is grounded. So that's essential, and yes, it's about finding the right people and the right constellation around the lead character.
Everything we do is about the emotion of the characters. We believe the better the emotion, the better the movie.
I like the early comic book characters more than the new ones.
I believe shooting chronologically gives you a very fresh perspective and you're always aware of where you are in the development of the characters.
