Celine Song

Part of why I wanted to make 'Past Lives' as a movie is because I know what's required in theater. The thing about theater is that its relationship to time and space is very different; in theater, time and space is figurative, it can be as small as a light change or the way an actor turns and looks at someone.

I learned so much about leadership from Rafe Judkins. I learned everything about leadership when you're running a show, or in my case, running a film. So much of it is about responsibility. He taught me about the responsibility of the chief creative person, to make sure that it's good. I learned so much from that, as an artist, holistically.

Even though maybe, of course any kind of life is going to involve some unhappiness and some happiness, but I think to be properly in a happy moment in your life, I think you really do need to feel empowered, to be in charge of your own life.

It is so much easier actually to fantasize about having that guy who is in finance, 6'5'', blue eyes, than actually dreaming of a true love that makes all of those criteria feel meaningless.

The thing that I think that has gotten much harder is that it used to be that this dating market or the marriage market used to be local. It would be about the garden parties or a town. But then what you realize is, well, in 2025, the marriage market or the dating market is not on our phones on social media and, of course, in all the dating apps.

What I learned so much about dating is that we don't seem to have a language for love that actually fits into the way that we talk about everything else. So we're using language that is so algorithmic or, like, something that has so much to do with math and numbers as a way to describe a partner for life.

Dating is supposed to be a game we're playing in pursuit of love, but the language we use, the numbers that we are bringing up, they seem to be so far away from the actual ancient feeling and the miracle of love, which is something that cannot be quantified.

Dating is a capitalism or acquisition thing: to get a boyfriend, get married or get that person, or feel you're more attractive on the marketplace and can do better. That has nothing to do with love; it's capitalism.

Dating is a game that we're all playing in pursuit of love, but the truth about love is that it is a miracle.

The truth is, men are also crushed by the dating market. They're also crushed by the way that we date and with the way that we objectify and commodify ourselves and each other.