Quotes from Zal Batmanglij

I think if I was interested in writing on my own, I would be a novelist - then you could write about yourself, and that would be it. You wouldn't need anyone else.

Actors love to do extreme things, so that is why they become actors; otherwise, they'd be novelists.

I think that all the powerful religions are pretty much the same. People like to pretend they are very different, but they are not. They are really about believing in something bigger than yourself, something that's unseen, and about having some faith.

You just have to make sure you keep living your life, challenging yourself, putting yourself in unusual experiences, thinking about what you're interested in doing, and going there.

People are frustrated all over the country, whether they're in Oklahoma or Oregon or San Diego or San Francisco or L.A. or D.C. or New York or Omaha or wherever.

I don't understand how our story can be so bonkers, but 'Captain Marvel' isn't. A lot of the ideas in 'The OA' that seem outlandish are just normalizing as the years go by.

Existing outside of irony is so hard.

I feel like I studied anthropology in college for a reason.

Any director who's willing to be brave not only in terms of subject matter but also in terms of being emotional and moving you is what inspires me.

I don't know if any specific religion is the one to subscribe to. I'm not saying, one way or the other. I don't want to get involved in that. But, I think having faith in this experience we are having as a group of people on Earth helps a lot.

It's funny how quickly human beings adapt.

I think about a lot of my favorite directors, and I think about their first films, and I have great admiration for the earthiness of those films.

I think if aliens came to Earth, we would laugh. If there was an alien technology, we would laugh.

If you really want to have an anarchist experience, make a movie with a studio.

I wanted to be a filmmaker, so my parents helped me by encouraging me to save my allowance. So I bought my first video camera, and I would make movies, but I never made a movie that I finished until I was in college. There was no expectation, but I would make movies every day.

The art house is an elitist idea.

Faith requires a leap; otherwise, it just becomes science.