What's the opposite of denial?

OK, I'm going to change the subject. What did Frances McDormand bring to Jane?

God, she really kind of brought everything to Jane. She was this person who was in my imagination and she really made her 3-D in a way. You know, I invented this character who was sexy and saucy and smart and shrewd and flawed and hedonistic and tender and all these different things. And when I went to cast her, I thought, "I just screwed myself. This is impossible. I'm never going to get all these qualities in one actor." And she walked in looking like she does, and being like she is, and it was, you know ... Directing is a pretty rigorous thing to do with yourself, but there are moments that make it worth your time.

I'm sorry, I don't understand.

It's just that directing's real hard, and there's a lot of downside to it, a lot of anxiety and disappointment. But when something like that happens, when you've written this character where you thought, "I'm going to sink my own ship," and Fran McDormand walks in and she is that character, it's like a really awesome, transcendent moment that makes everything else seem reasonable.

I love the scene with the old man, when Alex, Jane's daughter-in-law, goes apartment hunting and looks at his house. I love the economy of it. It's showing that Alex really isn't working hard to find a way out of Jane's house, and it's also about another type of relationship between a parent and a child. I admire the way that every scene is trying to do more than one thing at once. Is this something that you try to achieve in your writing?

I appreciate that. That's a nice thing to say. I really care about the way that I write, and I think that way. I think that's the kind of stuff that gets lost in the translation if you're not sensitive to it, or not interested in that. I appreciate it. Yeah, that's what I enjoy when I go to see films. I really enjoy these layered, carefully inscribed character studies that have larger subtexts going on with them. So it's the kind of stuff that I try to write.

What about the production design? Did you have a lot to do with the way ... the house is so perfect to me. It's sort of the dream, the idyllic California ...

Can I ask you a question?

Yeah, sure.

Are you gay?

No. I'm straight.

Excellent.

[Laughs.] Why?

'Cause I just thought ... I was going to ask you if gay men were going to like this movie better than straight men.

I really couldn't say.

I'm glad to hear that you're straight.

I've never been asked that in an interview before.

Well, now you're not a virgin anymore. Yeah, well, it's a great house. A bitchin' house. My producer ...

No. It's more than the house. It's what's in the house. It's the racks of records, and all the flyers -- you have flyers from the old punk band Crime on the wall. Who's responsible for Crime flyers on the wall?

You know who did it? My production designer is this woman Catherine Hardwicke, who six months after doing my film went on to direct her own film, which just got bought at Sundance. She's got a film coming out called "13." [Hardwicke also did spectacular work in David O. Russell's "Three Kings."] And I wanted that house to feel like ... I don't want to spend a lot of expository time talking about Jane's past. I just want to walk in the house and go, "OK, I get it." It was filmed in this span of time, these are the people she hangs out with, she's got a lot of money, she's really cool, she's doing her own thing, she's got a huge collection of vinyl.

So, wait -- do you think gay men are going to like this movie more than straight men?

I don't know, because the other night we had a premiere ... I don't know. I just like that you're straight and that you're a detail-oriented guy. That's good. It's a quality that's a little more common in gay men. But then again, you're a culture guy, and it's your job. I hope you're not offended by that.

No, why would I be offended?

I don't know, maybe you have some trauma from the past.

Look, you have a total straight male fantasy at the center of your film. You've got a rock star who gets to have a three-way with Frances McDormand and Kate Beckinsale.

Yeah, that's good, huh?

It's really straight. It's so straight.

OK, good.

Well that's more than 20 minutes, and I only had 20 minutes of questions, so I should ...

Well, I appreciate talking to you. You're very astute.

Good luck with the film.

All right. Stay warm. [Laughs.]

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