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Being the son of a filmmaker, you are aware of a career as a director. You don’t think of it as just movies, but as a life.
I want my movies to be audience experiences. As much as I like Michael Haneke, I’m not going to make a Haneke film. That’s just not in my DNA.
There are only so many movies you can direct. And yet there are movies that I want to make sure make it to the screen in as honest a way as possible.
I’m trying to figure myself out through my movies. Whether it’s big stuff like what we’re doing here, or little stuff like, ‘Why aren’t I happier?’ With every film I feel like I’m apologising for something. I feel I’m most successful when I’m looking for something that embarrasses me about my character that I’d like to expose.
There certainly is no secret in that there are plenty of people who don’t like plenty of my movies. Each one of my films is personal each one of my films is emotionally autobiographical. And I like directors who do that. With each one of my films, I’m exploring one of my own issues and I try to expose myself a little in the film.
I don’t want to make films that give you the answer. If there is a message to my films – and I hope there isn’t – it’s to be open-minded.
When you’re young, you want to make every kind of film: musicals, Westerns, horror. Slowly you begin to hear your own voice. I hope people receive what I do as small, personal films that are somewhat contrarian about their main characters.
I’ve been very, very lucky in my career, in my life – from day one. When aspiring directors say, ‘What’s your advice?’ first I say, ‘Be born the son of a famous director. It’s invaluable.’
I’d done table reads for my own screenplays, and I always thought they were so much fun. Why couldn’t we do these for other classic screenplays and bring them to life? You can experience live theater, where you get to see plays produced by different directors and different casts, but there’s really nothing like that for movie scripts.
Can you design a Rorschach test that’s going to make everyone feel something every time – and that looks like a Rorschach test? It’s easy to show a picture of a kitten or a car accident. The question is, how abstract can you get and still get the audience to feel something when they don’t know what’s happening to them?