I hadn't even thought about it -- you're making me nervous.

I thought Hammond had a great school system, and my classmates were very competitive. I've always done better in math than English, and always been in finance and retail.

My films don't have instant impact because they're dense with ideas that people have not thought about. It takes a while for the American public to wrap its head around some of the things I'm saying.

Back in the late '90s, I put together a humorous newsmagazine program called 'The Awful Truth' for Bravo. We helped one guy get an organ transplant whose insurance company had refused to pay. I thought, if we could save a guy's life in a 10-minute segment on cable, what could we do if we devoted a whole movie to a whole bunch of people?

I was always fascinated by this place. I always thought it was mysterious.

I've never before given anybody anything without expecting anything in return. I always thought somebody owed me something. My role was a drug addict and I fit in at the crack house.