Baz Luhrmann

When I was growing up you would see big American films that really mythologised their landscape, that really showed the vastness and the drama of their country.

Look, I had a passion for comic books growing up.

Historically, epics are set in Africa or Asia or the Wild West, but if you make an epic today it's hard to disassociate from the contemporary realities of those places.

I always have a point of view. It may not be right, but it's my own.

I understand that anything actors are doing, good or bad, is motivated by fear.

I don't have fights with actors. In absolute honesty, I've never fought with any actor ever.

The ugly duckling is a misunderstood universal myth. It's not about turning into a blonde Barbie doll or becoming what you dream of being; it's about self-revelation, becoming who you are.

I feel like a member of any group comprised of outsiders.

Some of the greatest relationship films of all time, the two stars have hated each other, but mostly you see that chemistry.

The food in Sydney is an Asian Pacific cuisine. It's eclectic but above all it's fresh, inventive and creative and that's what I love about it.

When you're in theater or the circus or film - to me it's all one - affairs happen. People fall in love.

I grew up around jazz. I love jazz.