I started as an actor, then became a theater director. I loved acting but didn't feel as confident as I needed to be, so I started directing theater; then I played in some movies, and then I felt the need to do my own stuff.

I started as an actor. I started directing because Steppenwolf needed another strong director.

I feel pretty confident in my own ability.

I'm the first Icelandic director who started working on U.S. movies. There are others behind me now, but it's like when Bjork opened the door for Icelandic musicians to work abroad. We're such a closed-off country, but Bjork broke the spell. And I'm glad it was a woman who did it. She showed us we could break this barrier.

If you make a film too American, it won't travel. It will have no life outside of its own country.

I consider myself more a European director who is from Iceland than an Icelandic director.