- Stripping toughened my hide, but exposing myself as a writer has been a lot more brutal.
- I have never been an ambitious person, and my participation in this industry is a fluke, but only male writers can afford to be coy and self-deprecating.
- I've been told that I'm incompetent, socially retarded, maladjusted. I still know that I couldn't function in reality. Los Angeles is a good place for me.
- If this whole writing thing doesn't work out, I'll be getting right back on the pole.
- [on screenplay-writing for actresses] The attitude toward women in this industry is nauseating. There are all sorts of porcine executives who are uncomfortable with a woman doing anything subversive. They want the movie about the beautiful girl who trips and falls, the adorable klutz.
- When you're in a competitive environment, always give out the impression that you don't care. It makes people want you more. If you act desperate, it's over. I think a passive attitude is helpful.
- The best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are.
- Having your film made is the award. That alone is the miracle.
- To enjoy being famous, you need to have a screw loose.
- I really like writing. I always hear people using that old quote, 'I don't like writing. I like having written'. I don't feel that, like I'm sad when I'm done writing something. I think it's gotten harder. With something like 'Juno', I didn't think anybody was going to read it, whereas something like 'Paradise', I'm writing it thinking I might actually direct this and people are going to comment on it and watch it. It's really hard to do that kind of thing, especially when you're perceiving how the audience will react.
- The weirdest thing about directing in general is that you're surrounded by these actors that you respect, and they're so good at what they do, and they're asking you what they should be doing. That's directing, but to me it was such a mind-fuck because it's like you're asking me what you should do in this scene? I have no idea. I'm just the hack that wrote the script! It's crazy the amount of trust people put in you. It's a tremendous amount of pressure.
- I don't know what a 'personal trainer' would be in Minneapolis, probably some guy who makes you go out and chop wood.
- You know, there's this whole idea that virginity is a sacred flower or something, and an imbalance in the way that women's sexuality is presented - and I hate that. So I want to write a film that challenges that.
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