I have seen Hollywood artistes like Al Pacino, Tom Cruise and Tim Burton doing theatre and Broadway shows. Cinema actors tend to go back to theatre because it gives them an opportunity to reinvent themselves.

It was Tim Burton's 'Batman' in, what, '89, I think? What we could see was there was someone behind the curtain controlling all of this, and you could see it from one Tim Burton film to the next, that the guy who made 'Edward Scissorhands' also made 'Batman.' You could connect the dots because his style was so distinct.

Tim Burton is an artist who has had a huge influence on me. I definitely share his sensibility. It's a joyful approach to darkness.

I want to be in a Tim Burton movie so bad.

I absolutely loved working with Tim Burton because he is just a creative, outside of the box thinker. How he does things is fantastic. It is different - weird different - and he does things that are groundbreaking. They are courageous to do and once you do them you are like, 'Wow! That really does work!'

I've always liked fairy tale and spectacle. I wouldn't say I was a fantasy fan, but anything beyond reality I've always found exciting - the work of David Lynch, the work of Tim Burton. But for me, I also love those things that are absolutely about human relationships.

These last few years, working with Tim Burton, it's been the best time I've ever had.

The first time we wrote a full-blown movie musical was our adaptation of 'Mai, the Psychic Girl' for Tim Burton, which didn't get made. We learned pretty early on from that experience how to incorporate dialogue into a musical setting that feels naturalistic while still feeling stylized.

When you're on film or TV, essentially you're in front of the camera. Unless it's a Tim Burton thing, the desire is to be real and grounded.

I'm an enormous Tim Burton fan.

I'm being photographed, worrying about my hair - and yet here I am, I've directed a feature film, why do I care about the way I look? Who cares? Does Tim Burton care? Does Joel Coen?

I really want to work with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp.

I don't consider 'American Rose' to be a biography so much as a microcosm of 20th-century America, told through Gypsy's tumultuous life - it's 'Horatio Alger meets Tim Burton.'

I wanted to be Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Stanley Kubrick, David Cronenberg, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and Hitchcock. I'd wanted to be a director since 13, and horror and the suspense thriller were the most powerful genres to me.

Tim Burton, let's face it: he's into stitches.

I went and met with Tim Burton for the role of Batman. But I just couldn't really take it seriously; any man who wears his underpants outside his pants just cannot be taken seriously.

I dream of working with iconic directors such as Tim Burton, Baz Luhrmann, Terry Gilliam and Wes Anderson - so I'm setting my sights pretty high! My perfect role would be in a fairy-tale period piece, and I'm quite upset all the Harry Potter movies have been made as I'd love to have been in those.

How many chances to you get to make a musical about a serial killer? The minute Tim Burton approached me, I was in.

When you're talking about Tim Burton, you're talking about a guy that has such a visual sense, an aesthetic, a storytelling style. It's like he's got his own genre.

When I'm done with my last album, I want to make a movie with Tim Burton telling the story of all of the albums connected. That's my biggest dream.