Theater people say you are either a comedian or a tragedian, and I'm a tragedian. And the vexing, dark characters, the ones where I don't understand their pain or their anguish, they are the characters that appeal to me.

Young screenwriters are always very frustrated when they talk to me. They say, 'How do we get to be a screenwriter?' I say, 'You know what you do? I'll tell you the secret, it's easy: Read 'Hamlet.' You know? Then read it again, and read it again, and read it until you understand it. Read 'King Lear,' and then read 'Othello.'

What's more enchanting than the voices of young people, when you can't hear what they say?

Lots of people say to me, 'I completely hate Busted'. That's completely cool with me. I understand why.

I'm not interested in characters who aren't broken. I'm not interested in happy people. It just doesn't draw me as a writer.

People say to me, 'Why don't you fight fire with fire?' You fight fire with water, not fire.