'Little Miss Sunshine' was really important to me.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I never had a better role than I had in 'Little Miss Sunshine.' That was one of my favorite roles ever.
When I see 'Sunshine,' I see a film that part of me is kind of very proud of and another part of me is very sad about, so it's a really complicated film for me. And I've never been really able to resolve all that in myself.
I learned a valuable lesson doing 'Mr. Sunshine,' which is that I didn't want to be in charge because it's too much. Being in charge and acting in every scene was just too difficult. It's like eating dinner in a moving golf cart every night.
'Sunshine' is really an experiment for me to see if I am a filmmaker beyond having my own stories to tell.
I was attracted to 'Half of a Yellow Sun' because of the story.
I've always been a huge fan of 'The Shining,' and 'Rosemary's Baby' is one of my favorite films of all time.
I remember sneaking a look at films like 'D.C. Cab' and 'Doctor Detroit' when my parents weren't watching. 'One Crazy Summer' with John Cusack was one of my favorites.
I remember seeing the movie 'To Sir With Love' when I was a little girl.
I loved Frances Hodgson Burnett, who wrote 'The Little Princess' and 'The Secret Garden.' And I loved the 'Little House on the Prairie' books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
'Little Miss Sunshine' snowballed. It was a tiny movie. We shot it in 30 days, and it was really fun to do, but it was one of those small movies that you don't hold out huge hope for.