One has to be able to twist and change and distort characters, play with them like clay, so everything fits together. Real people don't permit you to do that.

Creating characters is like throwing together ingredients for a recipe. I take characteristics I like and dislike in real people I know, or know of, and use them to embellish and define characters.

I like real people - salt-of-the-earth men.

When you're with real people, you don't have to be with virtual people.

I don't like writing with real people in mind.

People have said, 'You don't need to do any more biopics. You don't need to play any more real people.' I don't agree with that.