Naomi Foner

Mother of Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jake Gyllenhaal

When I write, I see a movie playing in my head. The role of the screenwriter is to step back and let the directors have their head during the process. Sometimes they're amazing -- often they make wonderful additions, as do the actors -- and sometimes the films are different in a way that you wish they weren't. I think at some point or another, every screenwriter feels like they would like to fall on their own sword, and try to get it to come out the way that they saw it.