Thandie Newton

Thandie Newton: (revealing she once asked Tupac Shakur about his tattoos) Because I'm not a typical home-girl, one of the first things I said to him was, 'What's that tattoo? It looks like a penis.' He laughed and laughed and laughed, I think it was actually a crucifix. My filthy English mind! He said (of his gunshot wound), 'It's a scar from being shot.' 'What? You were shot?' He's like, 'You don't know I was shot at point-blank range?' "He told me the whole story about how he was shot for the first time in the goolies (testicles), then his f**king skull. But it was someone sweet telling you the story.

Thandie Newton: The film is driven by coincidence and preconception, ... Each character, whether they be rich, poor, black, white, Mexican or Iraqi, suffers these preconceptions about the other as a manifestation of personal frustration. You see the characters' motivation and see that behind the belligerent cop is a man in pain, behind the frustrated housewife is a woman who feels let down. Racism is just one part of the much bigger puzzle that the film offers.

Thandie Newton: I just feel like it's got to be about the process and about the doing of it, rather than be about how it's going to be perceived. It's got to be about what it feels like at the time of actually making that project, because just a few times I've worked on projects because I think that it will seem great, or it will be a really good career move or about perception and I haven't had a good time.