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Paul Haggis

Paul Haggis Books

Screenwriter

Paul Haggis is a renowned American screenwriter known for his profound storytelling and complex character development. His works span a variety of genres, from political thrillers to family dramas, showcasing his deep insight into human emotions.

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Related Quotes

“I like taking genres and subverting them. I did that with In the Valley of Elah. I said, "Okay, this is just a murder mystery. Relax." And then, two thirds of the way through, I broke every convention of a murder mystery.”

Way Said Two Mystery Okay Thirds Murder Broke Genre Relax Valleys Conventions Murder Mysteries

Author:Paul Haggis

“We are manipulated by fear and the fear of others, and how we're often manipulated into doing things and voting in ways that are against our own best interest. Look at healthcare. People will tell you that healthcare is socialism and communism, and they're doing this while their wife needs an operation and their kid needs braces.”

People Way Needs Looks Kids Interest Wife Socialism Communism Operations Voting Healthcare Braces

Author:Paul Haggis

“I just always try to find an interesting story and tell it well. That's a hard enough thing to do, whether it's a piece of fiction or it's a small piece of reality. I just look for good story.”

Trying Wells Looks Hard Enough Stories Reality Interesting Fiction Pieces Things To Do Good Story Small Pieces Interesting Stories

Author:Paul Haggis

“Independent films are very hard to get made, but I'm lucky enough to get them made, so I'm going to keep doing it. I like my independence. I like being able to tell a story the way I want to tell a story. I don't like developing it with a team. I like coming to a story and deciding whether I want to do it or not.”

Way Want Made Hard Enough Stories Able Film Team Lucky Independent Independence Developing Independent Film

Author:Paul Haggis

“Every 10 years, I know less about love and relationships. The smarter I get, the less I know.”

Knows Years Smarter Love And Relationship

Author:Paul Haggis

“If you're in a relationship and you try to trust somebody who's completely untrustworthy, when trust is the basis of any relationship and everyone else says not to trust, is love transformative.”

Ifs Trying Bases Untrustworthy

Author:Paul Haggis

“If you believe in someone enough, and you just don't stop believing in them, mo matter what, no matter how much they push you away, and no matter how often they prove they're only there to use you.”

Ifs Believe Matter Enough Use Prove If You Believe Don't Stop Believing

Author:Paul Haggis

“I like to really respect the audience and let them come through on answers.”

Answers Audience

Author:Paul Haggis

“When I started to allow the characters to go where they wanted to go, I just had to follow.”

Character Wanted

Author:Paul Haggis

“You have to be careful of the advice you take.”

Advice Careful Be Careful

Author:Paul Haggis

“I try not to think of actors as I'm writing because I think you do them a disservice by writing for things they've already done.”

Thinking Writing Trying Done Actors Disservice

Author:Paul Haggis

“It turns out that good actors can make anything believable.”

Turns Actors Good Actors Believable

Author:Paul Haggis

“I just love actors, and I've always loved actors. I empathize with their job. Everyone thinks it's easy, and it ain't. To be that vulnerable and brave on camera is tough.”

Thinking Jobs Actors Easy Tough Cameras Brave Vulnerable

Author:Paul Haggis

“It takes me awhile to find something that I'm passionate about. I'm reading a lot and thinking a lot, and torturing myself a lot because I'm feeling really guilty for not writing something today.”

Thinking Writing Feelings Today Reading Passionate Guilty Take Me

Author:Paul Haggis

“Usually the characters are where I start. Then I continually ask myself, 'What's the worst thing that could happen to this character?'”

Character Happens Asks Worst Worst Things

Author:Paul Haggis

“You'd be surprised how many writers, or how many actors, if they miss a paycheck or two, they've got nothing. As a writer or an actor you can have four or five jobs in one year and then have none for two years.”

Ifs Years Two Jobs Actors Five Four Missing Two Years Paychecks

Author:Paul Haggis

“The radical rightwing pegs Hollywood as a leftist town, which is completely wrong. There are a lot of actors, writers, and directors who talk a liberal agenda... but all the studio bosses, for as long as there have been studios, have all been as far rightwing as you can possibly imagine.”

Long Has Beens Actors Imagine Directors Hollywood Towns Studios Radical Agendas Boss Leftists Peg

Author:Paul Haggis

“I've lived in America for many years. I mean, I love being a Canadian, but I truly identify with America. I love America so much.”

Years Mean America Love Is

Author:Paul Haggis

“The hope is what America represents to the world and has always represented - the hope for a better life and a better world. We have a duty to protect and support that hope with not just our words, but with our deeds.”

World America Support Duty Protect Deeds Better Life Our Words

Author:Paul Haggis

“United States could be a great country. It needs to be a great country. It's our responsibility as citizens to make that happen, every single one of us.”

Needs Country States Happens United Responsibility United States Citizens Great Country

Author:Paul Haggis

“There's something that's so basically corrupt about any system in which a good and fair profit is not enough. There has to be more, every year, every quarter, because your stock price has to rise.”

Years Enough Fairs Profit Quarters Stock Price

Author:Paul Haggis

“There are very few guys like me. I make a lot of money. I didn't always.”

Guy Like Me Lots Of Money

Author:Paul Haggis

“Right after we invaded Iraq, I put a sign on my lawn that said "War is not the answer." That sign was either defaced, ripped up, or stolen every week. I had to replace that sign twelve times.”

Said War Answers Week Iraq Twelve Stolen Lawns Ripped

Author:Paul Haggis

“When we're threatened, it's very easy to appeal to our basic natures.”

Easy Appeals Threatened

Author:Paul Haggis

“All the studios are owned by multinational corporations, which are not usually bastions of the left. So all the actors, writers, and directors - or at least a great majority of them - live in fear because we're all insecure, we all want that next job, we all want to be loved, and we don't want to piss off some studio chief who won't hire us for the next movie.”

Want Jobs Next Actors Left Directors Majority Studios Chiefs Corporations Insecure Multinationals Multinational Corporations

Author:Paul Haggis

“You hear this story that we're all on the left, but when there's a demonstration, you count how many actors actually come out. If there's a half dozen, that would be a big day.”

Ifs Stories Bigs Would Be Actors Left Half Dozen Demonstration

Author:Paul Haggis

“I wanted to do a political film that is as nonpartisan as can be, because I wanted to do a story that was American. I wanted to tell an American tragedy.”

Stories Wanted Film Political Tragedy

Author:Paul Haggis

“We think we know what's right. With excessive pride comes blindness.”

Thinking Knows Pride Blindness Excessive Pride

Author:Paul Haggis

“This is our fault. My fault as much as the next man's, because even if I was against the war, I didn't do enough to stop it.”

Ifs Men War Enough Next Faults

Author:Paul Haggis

“The wrong one will start saying things like "withdraw with honor." We've heard phrases like that before, and they led to thousands and thousands of deaths. Democrats always want to look tough.”

Want Looks Heard Honor Tough Democrat Phrases

Author:Paul Haggis

“If you change the right mind, then that person can perhaps change the world.”

Ifs World Mind Persons Changing The World

Author:Paul Haggis

“You don't do pictures because the audience is ready for them. You do them because there's something gnawing at you, something inside.”

Author:Paul Haggis

“Walk through Santa Monica and try to find somebody who knows a young man or woman who's in this war. Here, war is an intellectual concept. If you lose your son or daughter, it's no longer an intellectual matter.”

Ifs Knows Men Trying War Matter Young Loses Walks Son Intellectual Daughter Concepts Young Man Santa Your Son Monica Santa Monica

Author:Paul Haggis

“I found two true stories. One was in 2003. One was the beginning of 2004. I decided to meld them. Richard Davis' story which is the largest portion of this, a lot of the events are exactly as you saw, exactly what happened and the locations. Exactly as it was said with the chicken house and the strip club. Richard's parents were on the set and they'll tell you that the story is different than their son's. I was very concerned because I called them to say, 'You understand I'm fictionalizing this story?”

Said Two Different Stories Found House Parent Saws Happened Events Son Concerned Decided Clubs Chickens Portions Location True Story

Author:Paul Haggis

“I optioned the magazine article. That was end of 2003. It was a time when the war was incredibly popular here and everyone was driving around with flags on their car, if you remember not too long ago.”

Ifs Long War Ends Remember Car Driving Magazines Articles Flags Long Ago

Author:Paul Haggis

“If you make a film and then two and a half, three years later, suddenly the country's changed and you look like you just happened to hit it. I actually like being contrarian. I would have preferred to come out three years ago when everyone was disagreeing with me. But hopefully it asks a lot of questions about our responsibility in sending young men and women to war, especially a war that's so complex, where there's no right answer, where they're forced with impossible decisions every day.”

“I really wanted to make a nonpolitical political film. I wanted something that folks in red states and blue states could look at and not ask if this is the right thing to do to be in this war, but what this war is doing to the fabric of our society.”

Ifs Looks War States Wanted Film Political Asks Red Blue Folks Things To Do Right Thing Our Society Fabric

Author:Paul Haggis

“What happens when these young men and women come home so scarred and so wounded? We are ignoring that fact. We're just shoving them under the carpet.”

Men Facts Home Happens Young Men And Women Young Man Coming Home Wounded Carpet

Author:Paul Haggis

“As soon as you think you know Clint Eastwood, you don't know Clint Eastwood.”

Thinking Knows You Think You Know

Author:Paul Haggis

“We never did just one take. Multiple takes. Many. I did a bunch. Sometimes I do one take. Sometimes I did 20.”

Sometimes Bunch Just One Multiple

Author:Paul Haggis

“I was fired from my own television show, CBS's Family Law. It was the second time this had happened in my career, the first being when I was fired from The Facts of Life. I had been grateful to work in TV for so long but had always been chasing a career as a feature writer-director and had completely failed.”

Long Grateful Facts Of Life

Author:Paul Haggis

“The stereotypes we pretend that we reject are ingrained in our DNA.”

Author:Paul Haggis

“You don't make a film because the audience is ready for it. You make a film because you have questions that are in your gut.”

Film Audience Guts

Author:Paul Haggis

“As a general rule, I don't plan to travel with my Oscars, but we may have to make an exception.”

May Plans Travel Exception Oscars Funny Travel

Author:Paul Haggis

“If there's magic in boxing, it's the magic of fighting battles beyond endurance, beyond cracked ribs, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas. It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you.”

Ifs Dream Fighting Magic Battle Boxing Endurance Cracked Detached Ribs Kidneys Fighting Battles

Author:Paul Haggis

“Now we really like to put people in boxes. As men, we do it because we don't understand characters that aren't ourselves and we aren't willing to put ourselves in the skin of those characters and women, I think, terrify us. We tend not to write women as human beings. It's cartoons we're making now. And that's a shame.”

People Thinking Men Writing Humans Character Human Beings Willing Skins Shame Boxes Cartoon

Author:Paul Haggis

“What I love about writing is the contradictions we all embody as human beings.”

Writing Humans Human Beings Contradiction

Author:Paul Haggis

“We crash into each other just so we can feel something.”

Author:Paul Haggis

“I miss my mother very, very much.”

Author:Paul Haggis

“A creative person has to believe in the unseen and the untouched.”

Believe Persons Creative Unseen Creative Person

Author:Paul Haggis

About the Author

Born: March 10, 1953
Known for: Screenwriter
Quotes: 62

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