I'm in this business to make films, not get deluded by the system. The system is set up to give you a headache.

You can't make an action movie without action, and so, you can't make a romance movie without romance.

I wanted to make a movie about a black family in Middle America. I wanted to make a film where everyone can look at them and say, 'This is my family.'

Steve McQueen was the guy who said less, and everything was all behind his words and what he didn't say, and you still felt emotionally connected and rooted behind him.

When I was working on 'Men of Honor' with Robert De Niro, there's a pipe that he has in the movie, and it took us about six weeks to find the right pipe for him to use and feel comfortable with. It was a great choice, because it was really about what worked with the camera at that time.

I realized that food was actually a metaphor for bringing us all together. It's about us communicating and being like family.