Quotes

That drifting thing is my life view. I do it a lot. I am intrigued by inanimate objects. They're a piece of history, someone's statement and ideas of life. If this was your room, the stuff on your table would be telling me as much about you as you. As someone who grew up in a house where there wasn't a lot of talking, I'm used to just looking at the world. And in general I often feel like I just don't understand what's happening. That everybody else does, but I don't quite get it. That camera technique I often call 'the alien that landed - and doesn't know what's important'.

Actors are pretending for you, but they're not lying. They are not putting on a guise instead of themselves. They are finding things inside that they have experienced.

Making a movie is so hard, you'd better make movies about something you really know about. And even more, it's really good to make movies about things you need to figure out for yourself, so you're driven the whole way through. It's going to make things more crucial for you.

I think we're afraid of both [love and death], which is totally human. We're big, messy complicated creatures. And the idea that we're constantly seeking to put ourselves in smaller and smaller boxes makes me kind of sad. The person who wrote this script was a somewhat different person than the man I am now. I was grieving when I wrote it. And I have to say I'm happy not to be crying all the time - but I did. I cried when I was writing this.

I have to say, I totally lucked out with both [Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor]. I needed two actors who really did look like father and son, and they do. They're also incredible talents. They both brought so much with them. but most of all they brought the love. I'm quite moved by what they did and what they found together, especially Christopher. For any straight actor, let alone a movie star of his stature, to play a gay man with so much tenderness and compassion was truly inspiring. He was so open. It was beautiful to watch.

[on writing and directing 'Beginners' which examines the issues which arise when a widower discloses his homosexuality to his son]: The whole thing started when my real dad came out at 75. I was thinking about it all the time, and what was really interesting to me was how much more accessible my dad became. We would end up having these wonderful, long conversations about love and life. And in a lot of ways this film actually feels a bit like a historical document, because it follows my own journey through that landscape of change.

[on meeting his wife Miranda July] She wore a yellow dress. She was so strong and declarative. I fell in love instantly.