JEAN-MARC VALLEE

When I do a mix tape for my kids, for my friends, for my lover, I meticulously choose the tracks, and it's beautiful. And when they are alone they think of me - and when I am alone I think of them.

You've got to trust your instincts, your judgment and trust the storytelling that came before and the quality of the acting with the emotion.

When I see great film, I have this feeling of 'Oh, wow! Wasn't that great? Wasn't that good?' I want to do something. I want to scream and go out there and participate and embrace life.

I look back, and I've got a couple of films, and I'm happy.

Just film what's there, trust what came before, one hour before, and make it easy.

I respect the British a lot - their history, their past, their culture. I think it's beautiful, what they have with the monarchy.

I'm from the 'less is more' school. I had to be in the 'more is more' zone with 'Dallas Buyers Club', so I was out of my comfort zone, but I had to trust that.

I couldn't stand still at a desk for another year. I wanted to go out there and make films.

I love those films where I feel the director's confidence - where he doesn't need to overdo it with the shots and the cuts.

In a career, when you hit 40 and you've done a lot of this and that, you want to try some new things. I feel like that as a director, too, from one film to the other.

As a director, try to be humble and not to overdo it, not overcoverage and over-covering the scene.

I'm always aiming for some magic in films if I can find a mystical quality either in a song or in a moment or a character's intention.

There's a way of filming where you can get rid of the vanity and of trying to make something beautiful.

Trust the acting.

I had written 'Cafe de Flore' with 'Stairway to Heaven' in mind.

It's tough to work with kids. Kids are animals!

Directing on a 90-day schedule, whether for a TV series or a feature film, it's crazy; it's a marathon.

When you hear a solo piano, there's a solitude about just one instrument playing. It can be beautiful; it can be sad.

It can be a machine. The machine tries to make money and forget about the heart and the art. Hollywood is more about making money.

I was attached to 'Sharp Objects' before 'Big Little Lies,' actually.

I only made one film with a score, and I hate it. I hate the score of that film. It's not coming from me. I had nothing to do with it.

'Sharp Objects' was scary, unknown territory for me. I wouldn't pick this kind of material to direct if you just gave me the book. Amy Adams was the force that drove me in.

I think we give too much importance to artists talking about the art and the film and the books and the plays and the music - it's done; the material is there. But we talk about it because it's part of the game. I'm comfortable with it.

I was supposed to do only one or two episodes of 'Big Little Lies,' but I realized I couldn't just step away.

Adam Scott sings like a bird... He's so bad. He's so bad.