When I look at 'Napoleon Dynamite's style I'm reminded of how I spoke when I was an eight-year-old boy. It was just like capturing the essence of, 'Duh!' It was just like the stuff that I would say when I was like eight, nine, ten years old.

When it comes to casting, I’ve been so lucky. I’ve worked with unbelievable actors who make me look better than I am and take the written word and make it honest.

With each one of my films, I’m exploring one of my own issues and I try to expose myself a little in the film.

I grew up on movie sets, I’m comfortable on sets. A movie set is like a circus. I don’t understand why moviemaking has to be such an insane environment.

What I do feel is that ‘Up in the Air’ is the most indicative film of 2009. It is the portrait of 2009.

I’ve been very, very lucky in my career, in my life – from day one. When aspiring directors say, ‘What’s your advice?’ first I say, ‘Be born the son of a famous director. It’s invaluable.’

And over the course of the last six years, as I’ve directed more features and commercials, I’ve become better at articulating exactly how I want the audience to feel.

I used to have a group called Bad-Movie Saturday. Every Saturday, six of us would go see the worst movie that came out each weekend. It’d be noon in Burbank. It was just a running commentary. All executives – we would each talk through the movie and make jokes.

I’m really specific in the way that I shoot. I’ve always had a very good sense of what I need in the editing room.

I’m not going to have a perfect career. It’s better to be Billy Wilder and make lots of movies and have five or six great ones than to make so few movies that when you make a bad one it crushes you.