It’s… a hard thing for a director, to think you came up with a shot, something from your mind, and someone died while doing it. It’s the worst thing you’ll ever have to live with. It was very hard for me to get back on the horse again.

It’s great that I get accused of not being politically correct. People need to take themselves less seriously. This world is so screwed up as it is, we’ve all got to relax a bit more.

I’m at that point in my life where I definitely want to get married soon. I’ve got my dogs as surrogates, but I’m ready for kids.

I love doing big movies. It’s awesome! You have all these toys. The thing I like about this movie is, like they always say, directors have the biggest train sets! Don’t tell anyone, but I’d do this for free.

A lot of directors don’t want the pressure of a movie the size of Pearl Harbor. But I love it. I thrive on it.

The press don’t like to say nice things because nice is boring. It’s much better to label me the devil. What we do is not brain surgery. We are entertainers, plain and simple, and we’re responsible to bring that money back, to make a profit.

For me, the great joy is to watch an audience watching what I’ve made. To hear not a peep from the audience at the right moment, and then to hear the laughs and the cheers.

I go out there to win. People don’t care if you die in this business. The only way I get back is with success.

It’s… a hard thing for a director, to think you came up with a shot, something from your mind, and someone died while doing it. It’s the worst thing you’ll ever have to live with. It was very hard for me to get back on the horse again.

Fast cars are my only vice.

Maybe I have just a younger voice than many other directors.

We don’t make movies for critics. I’ve done four movies; there’s millions upon millions upon millions of people who’ve paid to see them. Somebody likes them. My greatest joy is to sit anonymously in a dark theater and watch it with an audience, a paying audience.

Do you know what directors go through? It’s just hell. Like, why do I work so hard – to think I’m only going to see this movie five times and then never see it again ’cause I’m so sick of it? What is it worth, honestly?

I can be very reserved about things. My business side isn’t shy. I can be like a general. But I’ve got a shy side. I’m also a lot deeper than people think, and a lot more sensitive. But I don’t let people in too much.’

I allow a lot of room for improvisation and funny stuff. I always feel planned.

Everybody knows about Pearl Harbor. The thing that really fascinated me is that through this tragedy there was this amazing American heroism.

What I look for in a script is something that challenges me, something that breaks new ground, something that allows me to flex my director muscle. You have got to think fast in this business, you’ve got to keep reinventing yourself to stay on top.

It is really cool to have created a movie that has turned out to become the biggest movie of the year.