I've never done anything but what I wanted to do with my life. I don't think too many people can say that. I wrote the songs I wanted to write, for me. I had no idea that 'American Pie' would relate to anybody.
'Taken' is a really difficult project because it was a big surprise for everybody.
Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant.
The fact is, when I wrote 'Juno' - and I think this is part of its charm and appeal - I didn't know how to write a movie. And I also had no idea it was going to get made!
I've had projects before where everyone says 'This is going to be the big thing,' and it doesn't really turn out to be. Then there is a little project you do and forget about, and then it comes out, and it's huge.
There was no way to predict that 'This is Us' was going to be what it is, that it would really resonate with people.
A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there.
I wasn't ready for fame and all that brings to your life. It was an amazing experience, but so overwhelming, because no one can tell you beforehand when it will happen or how it will impact you. So no one can tell you how to handle it, being stopped everywhere you go because people saw you on 'Oprah.' It took me over, and I wasn't ready.
My photographs are not planned or composed in advance, and I do not anticipate that the onlooker will share my viewpoint. However, I feel that if my photograph leaves an image on his mind, something has been accomplished.
Imprisonment hit me so hard - much harder than I had thought.
I never know what's going to move me. I'm always surprised. And it's always a mystery to the people who work with me.
You never know when something's going to hit you in a particular way and just knock you loose.
His letter was like the shock produced by a cold bath.
I was really surprised at the success of 'House of Sand and Fog,' because it is so awfully dark. Believe it or not, when writing it, I never had the word 'tragedy' in my head - I wasn't trying to write a dark book at all.
Despite explicit warnings, the consequences of the invasion were underestimated.
I think, like all big things, you don't know they're going to be a big thing when you start. You just kind of, like, play because it's fun, and it's interesting, and then it turns out to be way more important than you expected.
With every project, there are things that surprise you with the meaning they take on as you start to use them.
Sometimes something you thought wouldn't really be as big as it was blows up into something else.
I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.
The movie had a much bigger impact on me than I ever thought that it did.
'The 100' gave me this platform I never expected. I didn't expect the character to become anything. I was originally only signed up to do six episodes, and then it just sort of become this whole story and journey, which was an amazing character, a great journey, so that has been incredible, and I didn't expect anything out of it.
Certain songs mean a lot to you, and they don't really resonate with anybody else, and the ones you don't necessarily love are the ones that become really meaningful to a lot of other people.
You know that something is good but you never really know how good. You always underestimate how much of an impact something is going to have.
