[Bates had explored some of the themes of the story — depression, overcoming fears — before. Marriage, however, was newer territory.] It's always presented either as the romance or the tragedy, ... We don't look too often at what marriage really is. Marriage masks thousands of different arrangements — behind the scenes, it's all about change and negotiation and compromise. But we have the same attitudes toward marriage that we have toward death and dying — we want to sanitize it. |
[The first few days on the set were] sort of my trial by fire, ... Once you've set the scene, and you know the way you want to shoot it, and how you want to play it, you've got to get into the scene and forget everything else. |
A lot of Jane's fears are based in her fear of being exposed, ... Because once phobias are exposed, you feel compelled to deal with them. And who wants to do that? |
Every time an Oscar is given out, an agent gets his wings. |
For me as a director, it was important to create this couple as truthfully as I possibly could. Because as she's becoming more comfortable with her new life and her newfound freedom, their professional life is falling apart. |
I am a very private person, ... Not shy exactly, but it takes me a very long time to make friends. I still have such a hard time navigating the waters out here. |
I felt so strongly about the script and related to Jane's story so much that I had to do the movie, |
I think it's the best thing for them, playing in honor of Brad, and I think they are focused completely on the game at this point that they do him proud. He would be upset if they didn't. |
It makes you look at your priorities, |
It's the game Brad loved, and he would have wanted us to play. |
That really happened when Robin came on board, ... He wanted Michael [Stern] to be a real man, not just some accessory to Jane. |
There's only maybe two pages in Jane's book that deals with the marriage because she was really talking only about her becoming an EMT and going through this midlife crisis, ... So when Alan Hines wrote the screenplay, he sat down with Michael Stern and really got down to the bottom of what was going on in that relationship. The work was there in the script. |
They sent the material to me as an actress, ... I liked it so much, and I identified with the character and the script so much, I thought: I don't want anybody else telling me what to do, so can I please direct this? |
We need to let black America know, we do want you, but we want you on the terms of the United States of America, ... And we want you to be full and complete human beings. |
what informs her, both as an actress and as a director, is that she's a keen observer of the human condition. |