I thought 'The King's Speech' was great.

I just love actors, and I've always loved actors. I empathize with their job. Everyone thinks it's easy, and it ain't. To be that vulnerable and brave on camera is tough. The more they reveal themselves, the more we love them, but there's a lot of truth in what they're showing.

I like taking genres and subverting them. I did that with 'In the Valley of Elah.' I said, 'Okay, this is just a murder mystery. Relax.' And then, two thirds of the way through, I broke every convention of a murder mystery.

There's nothing more painful than writing.

I'm a deeply broken person, and broken institutions fascinate me.

You hear this story that we’re all on the left, but when there’s a demonstration, you count how many actors actually come out. If there’s a half dozen, that would be a big day.

We all have these tendencies in us that could go this way or that. I think that’s the real key in writing. To look at a character without judgment.

We’re trying to reinvent Bond. He’s 28 – no Q, no gadgets.

I try not to think of actors as I’m writing because I think you do them a disservice by writing for things they’ve already done.

Right after we invaded Iraq, I put a sign on my lawn that said “War is not the answer.” That sign was either defaced, ripped up, or stolen every week. I had to replace that sign twelve times.