1/Lessons learned from Olympia Dukakis: First day I worked with her when I was 24 - "Where are we going for margaritas tonight?" I said I wanted to get an early night. She said " We gotta have some laughs. Otherwise we& #39;ll blow our fucking brains out." We went for the margaritas.

2/When I directed her in my first film I spent a lot of time in rehearsal guiding actors to how I had imagined the lines. After about an hour she gestured to the space between her and the other actor and said "What you& #39;re not commenting on is what& #39;s happening right here."

3/ "Feelings aren& #39;t facts" was something I heard her say often.

4/I didn& #39;t have a day with her when I didn& #39;t end up in laughter so out of control that I was weeping. Or didn& #39;t have my thinking challenged so profoundly that I grew. There won& #39;t be another like her. #RIPOlympiaDukakis

5/ Oh one more thing about Olympia. When I was 25 she said to me "You& #39;re twenty-five. You better be having great sex. If you& #39;re not you better do something about it." I love passing this onto people in their twenties now and seeing their faces go pale.