Rian Johnson is kind of having a moment right now. Once vilified from a certain never-happy corner of the internet for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, plenty of movie fans rallied around him and appreciated how he tried to evolve the Star Wars franchise. And when Knives Out came out last year and killed both critical reviews and the box office, it felt like a vindication, reminding everyone that Johnson is a fiercely talented filmmaker who can dabble in a variety of genres: space opera with nods to Kurosawa, trippy sci-fi, whodunits and comedic capers and crime. His love of film and deep cinematic knowledge is evident in everything he does.

But there’s one genre he admits he’ll probably never touch: horror. And it’s for the most interesting reason.

Johnson recently participated in one of Film Independent‘s “Coffee Talk” series, where he sat down and had a long chat with fellow filmmaker Karyn Kusama. Those familiar with Kusama’s work know she has strong roots in horror with Jennifer’s Body, The Invitation and directing an episode of HBO’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Outsider. But well into the conversation (at about the 40-minute mark), the topic of the horror genre comes up. Johnson expressed his appreciation for the genre and then, surprisingly, offered an explanation as to why he’ll probably never dabble in it:

“To be honest, it’s a genre that, because my family was really religious when I was growing up, I wasn’t allowed to see a lot of intense stuff. It’s not a genre I have a grounding in emotionally. A lot of friends like [Kusama] included are incredible filmmakers who engage with this genre and make movies that just amaze me. It’s not something that, for whatever reason, has drawn me.”

That’s not to say he doesn’t watch it and value it. He rattled off the names of a few of his favorite horror movies – Ridley Scott’s Alien is up there and Jonathan Glazer’s excellent Under the Skin is in Johnson’s top 5 horror films of all time. But it makes sense that if he didn’t grow up with it and it wasn’t a genre that got its hooks into him on an emotional or intellectual level, that he wouldn’t be drawn toward telling a story in that genre as a filmmaker.

Still, it’s interesting. So many filmmakers, especially strong and unique genre filmmakers like Johnson, get their start in horror. One, because plenty of cinephiles and film junkies grow up on the forbidden fruits of horror movies and two, because it’s one of the least expensive genres to get a start in. Visuals can be achieved with relatively cheap practical effects or clever camera work rather than needing the heavy editing and CGI of other genres.

The entire conversation is worth a watch because Johnson and Kusama are both fascinating people. Check it out below:

In the meantime, we can hope that Johnson is hard at work penning a script for a Knives Out sequel.