Director

I'm on this diet where you're supposed to eat only fish and meat.

My father was an amateur filmmaker who shot 8mm color documentaries.

I love involving actors at all levels - and they have to know that I want to hear their contributions, with dialogue, with story suggestions, with script changes, whatever.

I really want to have actors contribute their own ideas, with phrasings and ideas on all levels.

It was important on The Shipping News to have my house far enough away from each location so I had this time in the morning to think about my shots and still remain open to surprises once I got to the set.

I think I avoid stepping into sentimentality by trying to be as truthful as possible with performances.

I can't go back and label myself as an outcast because I was a pretty well-adjusted kid, but I can certainly relate to the feeling of being an outsider.

I am always more interested in performance and character depiction, and my direction says as much.

My films do have characters who have trouble escaping the world around them.

Cinema has become a global economy, totally international.

ABBA: The Movie; I got a lot of grief for working on that.

I was always attracted by the European way of life, but I am deeply Swedish.

I love mixing amateurs and professionals.

Kevin, as the whole cast is, just wonderful people and great people, and people who are attracted to this kind of material and accepting the idea of going to Newfoundland and knowing the kind of lack of amenities.

But now I wish I could back to Stockholm to make international films there.

I always need a couple of highlights to really spark the passion for a project.

But I notice that there is a lack of darkness in my movies and I don't know where that comes from.

My father would tell anyone who would listen that this dentist thing he was doing was not his passion; cinematography was.

I always try to preserve my cinematographic style, even while I work in the US. I wish to always be European.

It's just, for me, the natural standard: a woman should be able to decide over her own body.