I like to do films that I would want to go see, basically. I'm not out to make a fast buck.
Our life is our life. If we waste it, we're fools.
I love a lot of the '70s musicians, like Bonnie Raitt. And I love Sheryl Crow. But probably my favorite musician is a woman by the name of Schuyler Fisk.
I'm a fool for a brilliant filmmaker. And for someone who wants to try new things.
I swore to my parents that no one would ever be able to buy me.
One day, it just dawned on me that I'm from Texas, and that's what I am.
My father's family is German and Czech.
When I started out in independent films in the early '70s, we did everything for the love of art. It wasn't about money and stardom. That was what we were reacting against. You'd die before you'd be bought.
I'm not very big. But I've got a big bark and a lot of heart.
I wanted to be Joni Mitchell.
I lived an idyllic 'Huckleberry Finn' life in a tiny town. Climbing trees. Tagging after brothers. Happy. Barefoot on my pony. It was 'To Kill a Mockingbird'-esque.
I think the thread running through most midwives is the passion.
Texas is so big, and the place where I grew up was so little, and I was such a little thing growing up in the middle of it. I had two choices: I could either spend my life feeling insignificant, or I could look on the life I lived as a microcosm of the universe.
There's a real danger in trying to stay king of the mountain. You stop taking risks, you stop being as creative, because you're trying to maintain a position. Apart from anything else that really takes the fun out of it.
There's nothing like not washing your teeth or washing your face or brushing your teeth in the morning.
Junior and senior high school years were not a good time.
My parents were devoted. Civic minded. We had family counsels. Three of us children against two of them. We lived a 'Leave It to Beaver' time.
My roots allow me to let go of the fear of failure.
When I first met David Lynch, he was living in the stables of the American Film Institute... He'd work all night and have his crew lock him in during the day, and he'd sleep.
When I lived in New York City, I loved it so much. But every six months, I had to go home to Texas to remember who I was. Get filled back up.
