Before we started shooting 'Homecoming,' we were in the writer's room for 'Mr. Robot.' I was also editing Season 3 of 'Mr. Robot' while I was prepping for the 'Homecoming' shoot. So yeah, it's a lot of hats.
I never look at twists as a way to trick the audience. Obviously, I think a good story has surprises and unexpected turns, and you always want to do that with an audience. But it has nothing to do with conning them or making them believe so strongly in one thing and then kind of going the other way.
I'm not in the business of adapting things that are popular for the sake of just getting it on the screen. I think there has to be a vital reason.
I think I was told numerous times in the industry that nobody wants to watch a guy on a keyboard.
I took Pascal, and I was terrible. And then, when I went to NYU, I minored in computer science. I just couldn't code. I just didn't have the patience for it.
I have tremendous social anxiety.
Growing up, my parents were very much about the Egyptian culture. They never really wanted to assimilate in American culture.
I'm not a fan of these very cutty, handheld-y kind of films or TV shows, where a cut is just every half second or every two seconds, where you're desensitized to it. To me, a cut should say something and be impactful.
I know when it comes to TV, the writer is king, but to me, the filmmaker is king.
This is the great thing about TV is that when you discover certain strengths in an actor, you can then begin to exploit them in really fun ways.
When you don't have a main character that's flawed, I don't know how you relate to that person.
Aren't all people flawed?
I could watch 'There Will Be Blood' all day long, and Daniel Plainview is a terrible person - but he's still compelling to watch. That's what makes me want to engage and see what happens next.
I'm not a huge fan of very plotty shows. I'm much more of a fan of character-driven stories.
Any time I approach a scene, it's not just what's on the page - it's how the camera's going to show or not show what's on the page. It's which character are we going to align with and what music is going to be playing.
I was a nerd, growing up, I was really into computers and technology, and most of my friends were basically in that world as well.
I think technology gives the illusion that you are connecting with people, social media particularly.
It's not necessarily bad that you have angst or you have anger - it's what you do with it, how you interpret it into something profoundly moving.
I've lived a very isolated life.
I did not love going out to parties or even get-togethers, really - I went to the movies, which, if you think about it, is an isolating experience anyway - and this was because I had anxiety about interacting with people.
