PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON

I'm not really a Sundance baby, but they helped me so much I feel I have to acknowledge it.

I had never read Upton Sinclair. I didn't read 'The Jungle' in high school or anything like that. But it's pretty terrific writing.

No, really. Just do it. You have some kind of weird reasons that are okay.

There's a lot for screenwriters to steal from songwriters, in terms of getting to the point.

I don't think it's a director's job to peek behind the curtain too much.

I don't miss scenes at all the way that I used to miss them when I was younger making a film. It's actually quite fun to get rid of them now.

I really subscribe to that old adage that you should never let the audience get ahead of you for a second. So if the film's abrasive and wrongfoots people then, y'know, that's great. But I hope it involves an audience.

Well I'd really love to work with Robert De Niro, because he's still the most talented actor out there.

I've never been a fan of whimsical or confusing storytelling.

I don't think the competition's so rough, within the majority of movies made in Hollywood.

My writing has a lot to do with who I am, and what my life is like, and my relationships to people.

I am always looking for that nuance, that moment of truth, and you can't really do that fast.

It's a gamble you take, the risk of alienating an audience. But there's a theory - sometimes it's better to confuse them for five minutes than let them get ahead of you for 10 seconds.

I write from my stomach.

I don't want to be the angry guy.

Film school is a complete con, because the information is there if you want it.

You have to be a brat in order to carve out your parameters, and you have to be a monster to anyone who gets in your way. But sometimes it's difficult to know when that's necessary and when you're just being a baby, throwing your rattle from the cage.

The films that I love are very straightforward stories, like really old-fashioned stuff.

Of course, I'm no dummy.

I didn't have any desire I might have had 10 years ago to shoot every single word that I wrote.

I think my job is to try and be as honest as I can with what is in my mind and how I feel - I think that's what you're supposed to do, if you're a good writer. So I try to do that. I know I do that. I do do that.

I'm completely aware of the fact that I'm a control freak.

How do I respond to criticism? Critically. I listen to all criticism critically.

I remember being taught in school that you would underline things that you liked. I remember just underlining everything as a kid, thinking, 'This has all gotta be important!' I would just underline the whole thing!

So with 'There Will Be Blood,' I didn't even really feel like I was adapting a book. I was just desperate to find stuff to write.