My first movie, 'Heathers,' had played at the festival, so I had a little bit of a Sundance connection, but I didn't really know about the Labs.
Michael Lehmann
I'm not a macho guy. I'm very soft-spoken on the set. But I'm not really intimidated by the process of making movies.
I'm all in favor of people - myself included - going into the same territory if there's something that can be done with it. But if somebody says, 'Make a sequel to 'Heathers',' I feel like, no, someone should make a good movie that's a dark, satirical comedy that has that sensibility.
You want the actor to be happy with the movie. You really want the actor to think they did a good job and all that.
I've done movies that have mostly feminine characters and elements, and I think that both 'Heathers' and 'Truth About Cats and Dogs' are, in their own weird ways - they're different ends of the girl movie spectrum, but they're very much centered around the female characters, and I like those movies, and I like working with good actresses.
I can't tell you how hard it is to make a dark-humored movie in Hollywood.
It's funny: as a director, there are movies you make because you're passionate about getting your vision across, and you know that you're vision is different than anybody else. In those cases, you take the plunge, and it works, or it doesn't. You make the stylistic choices based on how you feel about the material.
People always say, 'Why don't you make more movies like 'Heathers'?' And I say, 'I've been trying for 20 years.'
In the past, my aspirations were as arty as they could get, and I'm really embarrassed by it.
I can't make a choice to do a movie because people will go see it. People look at what a movie becomes and decide if they'll see it.
I love 'Heathers,' and I loved doing that movie. I'm very proud of it, so if it gets brought up, I'm happy.
I don't like sequels at all. If the movie's good the first time, why bother?
A movie as specific as 'Heathers,' which took place in a specific time and specific place and in which many of the characters got killed off, I never thought it made sense to see a sequel.
I really like getting inside the heads of female characters. I think I can do that well, and I enjoy it.
I think you make better jokes when you don't break logic for the joke, unless you make a movie just about jokes.
When I started 'Hudson Hawk,' I realized I was dealing with a strong-willed producer, a strong-willed actor, and, at times, a strong-willed studio, and I was the junior partner in all of this - the guy who hadn't proven anything in terms of box-office success.
I just can't operate with any direct awareness of the pressures I might be under.
I've made movies that are real boy movies - but I've had so much fun over the years working with women and getting good performances with women and with strong female characters.
