People don't step outside themselves and make the film they want to make, because they're afraid of the reaction. But once you get that reaction and have lived through it, there's nothing they can do to get you down.

If the character is true, the movie will fall into place. Or at least that's what you hope.

If you do one good thing, that doesn't define you either. Being around the kids in the juvenile center, they were engaging, they made us laugh but they were there for doing something terrible.

When you meet your kids, you realize that they deserve great parents. And then you have your marching orders, and you have to try and become the person that they deserve.

I feel it's important to show that one thing that you do doesn't define you as a human being. It doesn't mean there aren't ramifications or you shouldn't pay for that but its not who you are.

I'm glad I have an outlet. I don't think I would put my aggression elsewhere, but working on the projects I have worked on, you tend to benefit personally from trying to wrap your head around the way other people look at the world.

I wish I could be Peter Falk.

I love being Canadian. I think growing up in Canada gives you a world perspective that I certainly enjoy.

It's interesting the kind of freedom the musical form gives you. The rules are out the window. You can get impressionistic without seeming pretentious. Because it's perceived as an inherently accessible form, it gives filmmakers some leeway.

I love 'An American in Paris.' That's the one for me. Some of the visual ideas in that film are just haunting and very free.

My home life now is mostly women. They are better than us. They make me better.

I just sort of feel like John Hughes movies are perfect, but they're missing violence. If they just had some violence, they'd be perfect.

I've lost perspective on what I'm doing. I think it's good for me to take a break and reassess why I'm doing it and how I'm doing it. And I think this is probably a good way to learn about that. I need a break from myself as much as I imagine the audience does.

I don't know enough about manliness to define it.

I had my hustle. It was whatever I could do to not end up working in a factory. If I had to shake it like a showgirl, I was going to do it.

Some of the styles of dance in 'La La Land' I wish I had spent time on when I was a kid.

It was a strange experience, making a love story and not getting along with your co-star in any way.

I'm attracted to films that have strong female characters because there are strong female characters in my life. That's my own reality, so it's a doorway into a world for me.

I did what I had to do to get where I wanted to go. I had unearned confidence.

I think I was always bound to become two selves, if I wasn't already.

A car is only trouble at a certain point.

It's not easy to leave your hometown and your family and your support system and come out to Los Angeles to - to pursue a dream where the odds are not in your favor.

I grew up Mormon. I wasn't really Mormon, my parents were.

When I made 'The Notebook,' the director, Nick Cassavetes, who is John's son, used to show me his father's movies.