MYSTIC RIVER

"Clint is a very unusual case. The only thing I learned from him was the value of a sense of calm and quiet on a set. How he makes a movie is a mystery to me (...)

I remember checking into a hotel in Boston to start on the very first day of shooting. Nine weeks later from that day, the entire movie was finished — including the score that he wrote and recorded! This year, two major pictures, and acting in one of them? I don't know how he does it (...)

He'll say: "You want to rehearse this scene?" So you get done with your first rehearsal, and he says: "I'm OK. Want to move on?". He's had the camera rolling — he shot it. I think the most takes I ever did on Clint's movie was three, and that was rare. A lot of one-takes."

(SEAN PENN)