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I suffer from Irish-Catholic guilt. Guilt is a good reality check. It keeps that 'do what makes you happy' thing in check.

(On his fourth writing/directing effort, the Seitensprünge in New York (2001)): "I hope people watch this movie and still see New York as the greatest city in the world. I certainly do".

[on why he makes films about Irish-Americans] "I feel Irish-Americans are the forgotten minority group. Nobody else is making films about them. You have Woody Allen and Paul Mazursky making films about Jewish-Americans, you have Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola making films about Italian-Americans and you have Spike Lee and John Singleton making films about African-Americans. Who is making films about Irish-Americans?".

If these new revenue streams weren't being uncovered, I know I would be out of business.

Newlyweds shooting budget: 5k for actors, 2k insurance, 2k food and drink. 9k in the can. We only shot 12 days. That's how to make an independent film.

I went hat in hand to the money guys for years. Just couldn't do it anymore. Decided to write smaller stories and never looked back.

You make a movie for 9k for the freedom it allows you.

[on Der Soldat James Ryan (1998)] When your first experience of acting for somebody else is Steven Spielberg, you learn to observe. I certainly knew I wasn't going to be offering any advice. I just sat back and watched him work.

[on working with director Rob Cohen on 'Alex Cross'] Rob loves to shoot action and that's the stuff I don't do. But you never know when you're going to need it, so I was happy we got along, because I was looking over his shoulder a lot.

[on performing with Rachel Nichols] The first thing we shot was our bedroom scene. It was like, 'Hey, how are you? Let's get naked.' It was good to get that out of the way early in the shoot.

I was the cigar guy [in Der Soldat James Ryan (1998)]. Everyone else had cigarettes and they wanted to have different props, so I volunteered for cigar duty. Well, [I'm] not really [a "cigar kind of guy"]. I don't smoke cigarettes, so I figured I'd do the cigar since everyone else smoked butts. The problem with the cigar is, you know, you do 20 takes of a scene, you're smoking 20 cigars. By the end of the day, your mouth tastes like ass.

I'm not the genius they say I am and I'm not the idiot they say I am.