“[2015] it's a time that there's a clash of ideologies, similar to the Cold War. I think that a story like this has been waiting to be told, and I think it's a fresh look at the whole earth-shattering business of the collapse of the Soviet Union.” ThinkingLooksHas BeensWarWholeStoriesEarthWaitingColdUnionsIdeologySovietCollapseCold WarSoviet UnionClashShattering Author:Steven Knight
“I think people are drawn to characters that break the rules. I think there is something about a good person doing bad things for what they consider to be a good reason. Then the battle is on to almost prove to the audience that it's justified. How far can you go with that? How far can that character go before people won't accept it? Trying to walk to edge of that line is a challenge.” PeopleThinkingTryingPersonsReasonCharacterChallengesLinesWalksAcceptingBreakAudienceBattleProveEdgesBad ThingsJustifiedGood Person Author:Steven Knight
“There's lots of different ways of writing stuff and lots of different mindsets to have, but I think when it's your own creation, it's more pleasurable because you have total control.” ThinkingWayWritingDifferentStuffCreationMindsetDifferent Ways Author:Steven Knight
“When I was probably about 10 or 11, and I found it was simply something I could do. When you're at school and you do something and you get praised for it, you think, "Oh, right, well I'll do that." From then on, I always thought I'd be a writer. I thought novels at first, and then I sort of naturally drifted into TV.” ThinkingFirstsWellsSchoolFoundNovelTvs Author:Steven Knight
“When you're watching, I find two things happen. You either watch a film and it's really good and then you think, "Why can't I do that?" Or you watch a film and it's not good, and you think, "Why am I doing this?" So either way, it feels like being at work.” ThinkingWayFeelsTwoHappensFilmWatchesThings HappenTwo Things Author:Steven Knight
“I think that it's not a bad thing to not be too versed in the vocabulary of cinema, because you start to think that certain things are allowed and not allowed.” ThinkingCertainCinemaBad ThingsVocabulary Author:Steven Knight
“The sandstorm, which I think is an absolute triumph, could have been awkward. It's sex in a car, so who knows. And I think the rooftops look fantastic [in Allied].” ThinkingKnowsLooksHas BeensSexCarAbsolutesFantasticTriumphAwkwardCould Have BeenRooftopsSandstorms Author:Steven Knight
“There were three options [in Allied], which were for [Bred Pitt] to shoot [Marion Cotillard], for them to escape, or for her to pull the trigger, which is a heroic act to spare him. When I was thinking about how it would end, a long time ago, I think I tried each of them to see, but two of them did not work.” ThinkingLongTwoEndsThreeLong TimeHeroicSparesLong Time AgoTriggersHeroic Acts Author:Steven Knight
“Expect the unexpected, is what I'd say about Taboo. It's different. I don't think you've seen anything like it. It's getting incredible responses, so fingers crossed.” ThinkingDifferentResponseFingersIncrediblesUnexpectedTabooFingers Crossed Author:Steven Knight
“A commission and an original are two different things, and both have their virtues and vices. A commission is a bit more collaborative, in that you outline the story that you think should be told, and then you write it.” ThinkingShouldWritingTwoDifferentStoriesBitsVirtueOriginalsVicesDifferent ThingsOutlinesTwo Different Things Author:Steven Knight
“[The Girl in the Spider's Web] can't be anything other than a sequel, but a couple of books have been skipped, so it is different, in that sense. It's really taking a very strong central character and thinking, how do you execute this? It's quite different.” ThinkingHas BeensBookDifferentCharacterGirlStrongCoupleVery StrongSpidersSequels Author:Steven Knight
“I've spent three hours with Snoop Dogg, talking about how he loved [Peaky Blinders series]. And David Bowie loved it. The late Leonard Cohen was a fan. It struck a chord with various people that I didn't think it would.” PeopleThinkingThreeHoursTalkingFansLateSeriesVariousChordsBowieBlinders Author:Steven Knight
“I think it creates so many more opportunities and pitfalls in that you are treading on fresh snow, so you're in a new place.” ThinkingOpportunitySnowNew PlacesPitfallsTreadingFresh Snow Author:Steven Knight
“I think certain periods of history don't get dealt with because I think historians, and it's their job, but they look back and look for patterns. They look for sequences and they look for reasons, and certain periods of history don't fit with the general pattern of 1500 to the 20th century, during which there's the creation of the United States. At this time of 1814, two nations who would eventually become close allies were at war with each other, so it doesn't quite fit.” ThinkingLooksTwoWarStatesReasonJobsCertainNationsUnitedUnited StatesCenturyCreationPeriodsFitPatternsAlliesHistorian20th CenturySequenceTwo Nations Author:Steven Knight
“I think the East India Company represents what we would think of as a very modern approach to the world where everything was counted, every penny was counted.” ThinkingWorldCompanyModernApproachIndiaEastPennies Author:Steven Knight
“The plan is that there would be three seasons [in Taboo], and, as with Peaky Blinders, I have had a destination in mind from the beginning, because I think it helps as a writer. The destination in mind is that James Keziah Delaney sets foot on Nootka Sound. But that's a long way off.” ThinkingWayMindLongHelpingWould BeThreeSoundPlansFeetSeasonsDestinationLong WayTabooBlinders Author:Steven Knight
“I think once those friendships, if you use that as an analogy, the friendships between the audience and the character is established, then you can start to take liberties. I believe that as this unfolds people will find the time invested worthwhile.” PeopleIfsThinkingBelieveCharacterUseI BelieveLibertyAudienceWorthwhileAnalogies Author:Steven Knight
“There's something about the evolution of television where it evolved from to the things that we're now watching and loving. It evolved from film writers, film actors, and I think gradually people are easing themselves into the amount of time they have.” PeopleThinkingFilmActorsTelevisionEvolutionAmountFilm Actors Author:Steven Knight
“A creative person can suddenly realize it's not 90 minutes. They haven't got to do three acts, they haven't got to do the arc, but they can do other things. I think just as novellas turned into novels, I think that television series can begin to have that depth.” ThinkingPersonsThreeCan DoRealizingNovelCreativeMinutesHavensTelevisionSeriesDepthArcsCreative Person Author:Steven Knight
“With any period piece I think the thing to do is forget that it's not contemporary when you're writing and to have the characters feel as much as possible like characters that you would know.” ThinkingKnowsFeelsWritingCharacterForgetPiecesPeriodsContemporaryThings To Do Author:Steven Knight
“I don't think that jealousy and love and hate and anger and all those things have changed in the past 200 years - people just express themselves differently.” PeopleThinkingYearsPastHateChangedAnd LoveLove And HateThings Have Changed Author:Steven Knight
“I'm very, very excited because I'm just completing Episode 6 of Series 4 [of Peaky Blinders], which again I think is the best yet. And I'm loving it and it's not like work, it's not like a labor, I love doing it, and the boys are coming back and they're loving the scripts.” ThinkingBoysLaborSeriesScriptsExcitedWorking ItEpisodesComing BackCompletingBlinders Author:Steven Knight
“I wouldn't put myself in that bracket, but it's one of those things. I think what helps is that we [with Tom Hardey] don't socialize, we don't really know each other, we purely work together.” ThinkingKnowsHelpingTogetherWorking TogetherTomsBrackets Author:Steven Knight
“I think that helps because there has been no formality of friendship, the politeness of friendship, so we can just work directly on the work that's ahead of us [with Tom Hardey].” ThinkingHas BeensHelpingTomsPolitenessFormality Author:Steven Knight
“I am someone who thinks that if you've got an actor like that who wants to perform your work, then you should do it, and hopefully Tom [Hardey] likes to do the work that I do, so long may it continue.” IfsThinkingWantShouldMayLongActorsLikesHopefullyToms Author:Steven Knight
“You work, especially in the movie business more than in TV, but you have an environment where people feel obliged to have an input because that's what they do, and I think sometimes it can clutter things up and make things more problematic.” PeopleThinkingFeelsSometimesEnvironmentTvsObligedClutterInputMovie Business Author:Steven Knight
“In other words, when you have someone [like Ridley Scott] with that authority, then you tend to be left alone. But they were good and they're really good people, and I'm a big champion of the BBC and I think that like minds find each other and I think that FX and BBC is a perfect match.” PeopleThinkingMindBigsLeftPerfectAuthorityChampionGood PeopleLeft AlonePerfect Match Author:Steven Knight
“I'm always interested in characters who are closed down, but who open up when they choose to, rather than when they're obliged to. I think that's a very appealing thing, for an audience and just in life. I like the idea that something will say nothing, and then get straight to the point. That feels like how your heroes should be.” ThinkingFeelsShouldIdeasCharacterAudienceHeroObliged Author:Steven Knight
