“I make comedies and I always try... I don't try but I allow to have at least 5% of the jokes or have some jokes that I know will be understood by only about 5% of the audience. It's that guy in the corner who gets it and laughs. But he has to have his jokes too. That's part of my audience. Part of my audience is the people who will only get certain things.” PeopleKnowsTryingGuyCertainAudienceLaughingComedyJokesUnderstoodCornersThat Guy Author:Alexander Payne
“I spend a long time casting, but once I've cast a film there's a reason why I selected those people. So I'm hands-on in selecting the cast, hands-off to see what they do with their characters, and hands-on again to offer suggestions.” PeopleLongReasonCharacterHandsFilmOffersLong TimeCastsReason WhySuggestionsCastingSelected Author:Alexander Payne
“Forgiving yourself may be for many people, at least for myself, extremely difficult. And then in a larger context, I will say that I'm constantly astonished by those who pray daily, "Forgive me my sins as I forgive those who sin against me," and beat very loudly the war drum.” PeopleMayWarDifficultSinPrayingBeatsForgivingForgive MeForgive Yourself Author:Alexander Payne
“A lot of people get stuck, like, "Oh, if it's made by a studio, it can't be independent." Often they link it to the source of financing, or how it's distributed, but I don't really know how you can. A filmmaker will take his money from anywhere. It doesn't matter.” PeopleIndependentStuckFilmmakerFinancing Author:Alexander Payne
“The thing is, right now the films don't need to be overtly political to be about our times. We also need films that are just human, that are about people. People need that, too. It's like we need to reconnect to what it is to be human. Not just what our political situation is. That's not what I'm thinking about exclusively. Human content is needed again, as it was in the '70s. I think films were more human than they've been since then.” PeopleThinkingFilmPoliticalSituation Author:Alexander Payne
“I think about what movie I would like to see. I don't think of them as a correction or palliative. I certainly am irritated by anything that's shot in the Midwest and filled with these noble people. "Oh, they're so good, and they're so honest..." I'm not interested in that. I just think of what's right for a movie.” PeopleThinkingHonestNot InterestedIrritated Author:Alexander Payne
“The worst thing for people to say about your movies is, "Yeah, it was pretty good, but it was too damn long.".” PeopleLongWorst Author:Alexander Payne
“I'm considered to some degree a successful director working in Hollywood, making films my way but using studio financing. But with almost every single one, I get praised up the wazoo by people who never would have financed the films. It's: "Gee, this movie is so new and different - what do you want to do next?" "This." "Oh, that's too new and different."” PeopleDifferentFilmSuccessfulMy WayFinancing Author:Alexander Payne
