Marjane Satrapi

On her famous ancestor Nasser-al-Din-Shah: "You have to know the kings of the Quajar dynasty, they had hundreds of wives. They made thousands of kids. If you multiply these kids by generation you have, I don't know, 10-15,000 princes and princesses. There's nothing extremely special about that." Show less «

I'm not a politician. I don't know how to solve the problems of the world. But as an artist, I have one duty: to ask questions.

I always liked the story: They told Adam not to eat the apple, and the first thing Eve did was eat the apple. So this is Eve's fault. I mean, did Adam have a brain or not? He could say, "I won't eat the apple," but it's Eve's fault. And human civilization is based on that. It's our fault. Show less «

...unfortunately you know, most of the people, they consider animation much like comedies, as a genre. It's not a genre. It's just a medium.

I edit four times. Edit, then don't see the film for two weeks - and then edit it again. Every time you see something for a long time, you are convinced that it works, then you get some distance and look at it again and you realize, 'This is not working'. Show less «

[on casting Ryan Reynolds, about whom she had a preconceived doubt] The second I saw him and we started talking about the film and the character, I knew he was the right one. He really has this face that is so innocent, so boyish, so nice, but there is something in the dark eyes and his smile, which is really freaky. So he was really the guy who could be crazy and - at the same time, the second he smiles - you forget he is crazy. That was very important, because how can you make a film in which you have compassion for the killers? Show less «

[on adapting to the American style of film-making, while doing 'The Voices'] The biggest transition is that in Europe the director has the final cut. There is no discussion, that is the law... it belongs to us, which I think is a very good thing because I don't know who, besides the director, can know what decisions to take. They don't discuss it with others, and discussing ideas is good. There has to be a system in-between because sometimes you are so much in your project that you need someone from the outside to look at it and tell you if there is something wrong. It was a bit difficult because I had to speak to everyone all the time, and explain everything and justify things that I know should be a certain way. Show less «

When I want to make a movie I lock myself in the bathroom, because there are two mirrors, and I act out the whole movie seven or eight times. For me, it is a question of knowing the rhythm of the movie to feel it, but I look like a psycho doing this. Thank God nobody but me sees this. You do that many times and the story becomes yours, there is no other way to do it. I put all of my heart, my brain, my sensitivity [into it]. Even if the story is not mine,from the moment that I embrace it and imagine it, it becomes mine. Show less «