“I think what's interesting about the whole paparazzi thing is that unless you're Brad Pitt or Madonna, you can pretty much avoid it. You know when you're going to an opening that you will be photographed, so that's fine. And you know the restaurants that have paparazzi, so you don't go to them.” ThinkingKnowsWholeInterestingFineOpeningRestaurantsPaparazziBrad Author:Annette Bening
“Movie is a near art form. It's showbiz and people want to make money. And generally people are financing things because they think it will make money whether it's a cable news show, a cable show, or a feature film, or whatever it is. So that's the part of it that drives it, I think, is really the dollar.” PeopleThinkingArtFilmMaking MoneyFinancingShowbiz Author:Annette Bening
“I love watching people listen. And on film often some of the best moments if you think about favorite moments on film, often the person isn't even talking.” PeopleThinkingMomentsFilm Author:Annette Bening
“Of course, you can never watch something like somebody else watches something like you, but nonetheless, you have to try. So I think on camera you learn a lot about how much the camera does for you, which is what is the great luxury of movie acting. Or acting whether it's TV or movies or whatever it is, that the camera's really such a gift because there's so much that it sees and does if you're willing to just be open and expose yourself and all of that. So you also learn what doesn't matter. And sometimes when you think about things, you think things matter that don't matter.” ThinkingTryingSometimesActingLike You Author:Annette Bening
“Movies are details. Movies are billions of details that come into a certain moment. So with all the years and months and weeks and days and minutes of preparation, then finally you're shooting and it all comes down to these moments when you're shooting, which is sort of insane when you think about it. The details make a difference.” ThinkingMomentsWeekInsanePreparationMaking A Difference Author:Annette Bening
“I can be very snobby about fiction, especially contemporary fiction. I can be kind of overly demanding, I think. But this is, I think, a good time. A lot of fiction comes out right now. So, I like reading the memoir. I love memoir, the biography, auto bio.” ThinkingKindReadingMemoirGood TimesBe Kind Author:Annette Bening
“Some people say talent is energy and that's a very interesting way of thinking about it. In other words, people with talent have a lot of energy.” PeopleThinkingEnergyInterestingTalentVery Interesting Author:Annette Bening
“Once I get on something, once I have something that I'm working on, then I become very obsessive. In a good way. I mean,... is there a positive way to say obsessive? It's a good thing and if you're out there and you're working on something right now and you're crazed and you're up in the middle of the night, or you can't stop thinking about it, or you have to keep reading other things about the subject that you're working on or whatever. That's good and I think that's necessary creatively.” ThinkingMeanNightReadingGood ThingsObsessive Author:Annette Bening
“People always ask us women about how we balance our lives. Rarely do they ever ask men this but we are asked this and it makes a lot of sense - balance, right? It sounds right. And of course you do have to balance because otherwise you'd go crazy. And you do have to find ways of doing things in a sensible manner, raising children and all those choices. But then there's a part of creativity which is irrational and which is obsessive and then that's also part of what we do. So, I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that's part of what makes someone good.” PeopleThinkingMenChildrenChoicesCreativityCrazyBalanceAsk MeSensibleIrrationalRaising ChildrenObsessive Author:Annette Bening
“This is a good thing to say to film students. If there's a story point that you don't feel right about, that there's a question you have - "Does it really make sense?" Or, "Is that plausible? Is it implausible? Is it set up?" Or whatever. Go at it. Don't let it go. If there's a question in your mind, you're probably right. You probably do need to work on it and think about it more.” ThinkingMindFilmStudentsGood ThingsMake SenseLet It Go Author:Annette Bening
“You read something and you know it's not there yet. There's a little section here that... this part's good but that is a little not, it doesn't quite work. That doesn't quite work. That's easy. To say, "OK, now, this is what I think will fix it." That's harder. And most people can tell you what's wrong with something. Very few people can say what they would do to fix it.” PeopleThinkingEasy Author:Annette Bening
“One of the things that I love when I go to a film or when I'm reading some book or whatever, is to be told a secret I thought only I knew and then someone says, "Oh my gosh, you know, too." And film can take us into private moments in a way that the theater, I think, kind of can't, and that's one of the reasons I like doing films. And the way a book can is that these little secrets and the private things that go on in our minds that maybe we haven't shared with anyone, and then someone writes it or shows it to you in a film, you think, "Oh, that's me. Oh my God, that's me, I have that secret."” ThinkingWritingMindKindBookReasonMomentsFilmReadingSecretOh My Gosh Author:Annette Bening
“The films that are interesting you never can stop... there's no end point, you just keep thinking and musing about it.” ThinkingFilmInteresting Author:Annette Bening
“I think where I've instinctively found myself is that I am somewhat guarded in my public life. Being interviewed or being photographed or just in public attention, I have a certain reserve. But when I'm working I feel like I'm very open. At least I like to believe that I feel like nothing is held back when I'm in front of a camera. That's my job.” ThinkingFeelsBelieveJobsCertainFoundAttentionFrontsCamerasReservesPublic LifeBack WhenGuarded Author:Annette Bening
