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I'm really interested in movies about sex and lust, because I think those are primal, carnal instincts that translate well to a visual medium.

[filming sex scenes] Be very specific with the actors about what they're doing. This is choreography, like a dance scene or an actor sequence. The way you freak actors out is like, "OK, guys, act passionate, do whatever you'd normally do."

[successful actresses] Something you discover as a writer is that actresses who are successful are incredibly smart. For some reason, there's this myth that if you're a beautiful actress, you're not bright, you're a puppet. But it's completely the opposite. These are people with a finely tuned sense of story, and who are also strong and articulate.

[acting in sex scenes] Sex scenes are intimidating, because when in life are you around people you just met in a work environment, and you're taking your clothes off and figuring out where to put your genitals?

[why she includes female nudity in her films] It's a really interesting question, because people talk about the male gaze as though only men have the right to use the camera in an erotic way. And I don't believe that. The camera is your way to see what you want to see; it's an extension of the director's fantasy. I'm executing my personal fantasy, whether it's a fantasy of pleasure or of pain and fear. You see plenty of the girls' bodies, because I think they're beautiful. So if I'm showing that, it's because it feels like, Oh, I want to show a moment where the girls feel comfortable being naked, or, I want to show that there's incredible female beauty in this movie, and celebrate that.

I was born in Canada. I grew up to American parents. I grew up in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Ridgefield, Connecticut, a small town about 50 miles outside of New York. I always loved to write growing up. My parents and my teachers, I went to public school, had a few teachers that recognized that I loved to write, and were very encouraging. So I would write poems and short stories. It became part of my identity as a kid, then as a teenager, I went to a literary magazine, and I went to a creative arts camp called CCY, Center for Creative Youth, at Wesleyan, where I eventually went to college, one summer, and that was a great experience. When I went to college, I never thought that I would become a writer, necessarily. I knew that I loved it and that I would continue to write for my sanity and my sense of self, but I didn't really understand how you could translate being a writer into a profession.