Obviously, when you get into larger budgets, you have less of that freedom, and I just - I'm not a person that tends to make stories for those larger budgets. To me, it's not much fun to have that kind of pressure.

There are a lot of silly projects out there.

I'm not interested in replicating 'Hedwig' like a virus.

'Hedwig' is not autobiographical, but what she goes through is clearly a big metaphor. She doesn't want to be what she is, but she comes to an understanding that what happened to her has actually made her whole.

I've obviously always been aware of actor-oriented films, being an actor. Altman and Cassavetes were really strong. And then I realized their structures were quite fascinating, too.

I love a good party.

I'd like to do some female roles again.

I don't like being choreographed to a T. I like to take steps and make them my own.

In rock and roll, homosexuality was accepted, but it was less cool to say it.

If you go for the money first and try to think of what other people want to see, you change your original inspiration and perhaps put out something that's less original and less personal and maybe less satisfying.

'Hedwig' was born in '94. I was thinking of a theater piece; Hedwig was one of the characters.

The things that interest me are less to do with perhaps finding myself and more to do with surviving and mercy and forgiveness.

Anger is so constructive.

Coming out as a gay man, it was very much about finding my own identity and dealing with labeling.

Some people go off to an ashram or they, you know, have a midlife crisis and buy a sports car. For me, I do 'Hedwig,' and I see it's a midlife crisis maybe, and I see what's next. And it's a good trampoline, maybe, into the next part of my life.

User-comments culture is not useful for creating original work, I think.

I never even had a MySpace.

'Hedwig' isn't particularly based on me, but I think that it is autobiographical in terms of emotion.

I really want as many people as possible to relate to something, without compromising or dumbing down.

I remember my girlfriend dropped me for the guy I thought was really cute.

I like the fact that it's like The Ramones. You just have to change your name, and you're a Ramone. You just have to put the wig on, and you're Hedwig. Women have played it. Gay men, straight men, you know.

I have a weird propensity to know what's going to happen in the future.

I went to a very small Catholic school. It wasn't an easy place to be growing up gay.

As you get older, you treasure the beautiful things of the past but also see things more clearly.