You made your name and gave props to Beantown with Next Stop Wonderland (1998). When does D.C. get a shout-out?
Would a sigh do? I believe that any kind of shouting requires a permit.
Hollywood policy dictates that even mentioning current projects immediately jinxes them forever. So what can you tell us?
The further away the money is, the freer you are.
L.A. is a 2,500-mile trip. How’s the commute?
Los Angeles is a state of mindlessness. I’m often there without knowing it.
Name a film that you’d like to rewrite the ending—and tell us why your version would result in a blockbuster.
Citizen Kane. Except Kane becomes president, because being president sure looks like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?
Now name the best film ever set in D.C. The worst?
Seven Days in May would probably be the best. The worst … hmm … I guess Billy Jack Goes to Washington, though I’ve heard there’s a director’s cut floating around that’s just dynamite.
Netflix: What’s in your rotation?
Art films. If I were to reveal their titles, I might never work again.
Who would you rather cast in a film, Jenna or Barbara?
My mother-in-law met Jenna once and said she was very modest, nice and unassuming. So, yeah, definitely, that only leaves Barbara as actress material.
Do you take a lot of guff from industry folks for being “D.C.-based”?
To play parcheesi with Madeleine Albright at the Cosmos Club is an excitement few people understand.
Be honest: Is acting really a “craft” if kids and dogs can do it?
If you don’t think Rin Tin Tin was an artist, then anything I could say to you would just be barking up the wrong tree.
Here’s a blank check to make the movie of your dreams. What’s the logline?
Poverty is compelling.
Washington vs. Hollywood: Which one would win at the OK Corral?
Hollywood feels the pain … OK?