[Reese Witherspoon] was the first, and ... only person that I thought who would play it, for many reasons. Number one, an actor who has to play from 17 to 35 and be convincing in both ranges. And two, we all know her extraordinary comic guile and her wit ... but she also has that irresistibility in her, that total appeal. |
But if I have an obsession at all, it is with hands. I love hands and I love lips. I never cast lipless actors. |
I always like to reveal the fact that the emperor has no clothes. And children are best at that. They teach us how to see the world in that sense. They are without artifice; they see it for what it is. I am drawn to that ruthless honesty. |
I am an independent film-maker first and foremost. I have always cut my own cloth. |
I grew up in a very small town which is remote even by Indian standards. I always dreamed of the world. |
I guess that would be Indian, in a way. We are used to no privacy. We are used to a lot of people in a room, sleeping on mattresses. |
I know what it's like to be in one place and dream of another. I also know what it's like to feel that nostalgia is a fairly useless thing because it is stasis. |
I like to be unabashed, which is an Indian trait, both emotionally and visually. It's important to have a circus to play with. |
I want to question what the outside is and who defines it. I often find those that are considered to be on the outside extremely inspiring. |
I wanted to add something that you've never seen about an actress before and this was my chance, and Reese's chance ... to make her a full-blown sensual woman. And to see also that emotional depth, that real range, |
I wanted to add something that you've never seen about an actress before and this was my chance, and Reese's chance ... to make her a full-blown sensual woman. And to see also that emotional depth, that real range. |
It's an extraordinarily funny and wonderful screenplay. It makes you laugh from the first page. |
It's only at this age that I can say the word 'art' without flinching. |
Never treat anything you do as a stepping stone. Do it fully, and follow it completely. |
People ask me this, but I've never sought to be on an A-list. I've done my own thing and my own thing has thankfully now brought me an audience. |