 But you're right, I did think about acting more and then decided against it. |
| Usually the audience has no idea that the censored version of whatever movie they're watching isn't the original. |
| Part of it has to do with this business of being approached in public. I have a distinctive look - it's partly the glasses I wear - and people seem to remember me once they've seen me. |
| Storytelling is the only studio movie where the censorship is perfectly clear, the only studio movie with a big red box covering up a shot. I take pride in that - and, of course, in having avoided the fate of Eyes Wide Shut. |
| When part of what you're trying to get at is the truth hidden under a taboo, or when you want to nail a hypocrisy, laughter is a very useful tool. I want to show the painful side of existence, but there is no question I also want to make people laugh. |
| In particular, people have trouble understanding where I stand in relation to my characters, and very often this gets reduced to me making vicious fun of them. |
| Narcissism and self-deception are survival mechanisms without which many of us might just jump off a bridge. |
| I admit there's an element of brutality in all my work - it's part of the truth about human existence I always want to explore - but the last thing I'm trying to do is put on some kind of freak show, inviting people to get off on other people's pain and humiliation. |
| I mean, I don't want to sound - of course it's very nice, people come up and say appreciative things about my work. But the loss, in terms of privacy and anonymity, is no small thing to me. |
| But anonymity is very important to me, and I don't want to be recognized in public more than I already am. |
