Woody Allen sat down with MTV to discuss his new crime-drama Cassandra's Dream, starring dreamy team Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell as two brothers caught up in their uncle's mess. Mr. Allen rattled off his usual self-depreciating humor ("You would think there are certain parts around that I'd be a natural for: a college teacher, a shrink or a lowlife.") and also admitted he would like to work with Reese Witherspoon and Cate Blanchett. ("They're two people I'm extremely high on. I'd love to find something I could do with them.")

On the idea for Cassandra's Dream:

I had written an off-Broadway play years ago about a family that was very dependent financially on their uncle. In that play, there was no killing or anything like that. But it occurred to me as I was directing it, what if the uncle came to them and beat them to the punch? When they asked him for a favor, he asked them for one. So that was the germ of the idea.

On Scarlett Johansson:

As soon as I met her, I had a very good rapport with her. She's very charming, very bright, very amusing. She livens the set up. The minute she walks on the set, the amperage goes up 200 points. She's a great kid and very talented. She can sing. She can do dramatic things and jokes if you need her to. Whenever there's a part she could play, she would probably always be my first choice.

On turning his films into musical theater:

It comes up all the time. I've never been overly disposed to it. I've had a million offers on "Purple Rose of Cairo," a million offers on "Bullets Over Broadway," but I've never been overly enthused about it. I feel once I write it and do it, that's it. I don't have to be involved in it. It could be a situation where I simply agree to it and then I see it when it opens and put a bullet through my head. It's not something that really interests me very much.