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William Monahan

William Monahan Quotes

Screenwriter

William Monahan, born on November 3, 1960, is an American screenwriter known for his profound insights into crime themes and his exquisite narrative skills. His works, including 'The Departed' and 'The Departed', have earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

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Famous William Monahan Quotes

“If TV seems improved, I think it's been enhanced by violence and sex permissible on cable, as well as better cinematography, but in the end it's really only soap operas like your grandmother's afternoon "stories" and that's all it wants to be or has to be.”

Ifs Thinking Want Wells Ends Stories Seems Sex Violence Tvs Like You Grandmother Afternoon Opera Soap Cables Soap Operas Cinematography Your Grandmother

Author:William Monahan

“A writer is a performer as well. A writer isn't the literary department. That gets tried on but nothing's a script unless a good writer goes away and does his thing alone.”

Wells Doe Scripts Department Performers Good Writers

Author:William Monahan

“Yeah, well I can't see a situation where I wouldn't at least re-write as a director something I was going to direct. At the moment, I wouldn't direct anything that I hadn't written. I can now say, as everybody else says, that it all depends on the script.”

Writing Wells I Can Moments Situation Written Depends Directors Direct Yeah Scripts

Author:William Monahan

“Martin [Campbell] is very energetic and precise. He'll on the set like four hours early with a flashlight and I thought, well, I'll certainly try to be very neat about my script like Martin, which I wasn't, but I'm not going to do that bit with the 4AM and the flashlight. I'd love to be able to say I was nervous, but I wasn't. The only time I ever had anxiety it turned out to be asthma.”

Trying Wells Able Bits Hours Four Anxiety Scripts Nervous Precise Only Time Neat Energetic Asthma Flashlights

Author:William Monahan

“You just have to know what you want and what you're doing and it leads to a kind of general well-being, which I think you sensed when you were there.”

Thinking Knows Want Wells Kind What You Want Well Being

Author:William Monahan

“For some reason, I seem to work well with actors. I love working with them.”

Wells Reason Seems Actors

Author:William Monahan

“The thing about movies is if somebody has an idea that works, it's in, and I say that as a screenwriter as well as a director.”

Ifs Wells Ideas Directors Working It Screenwriters

Author:William Monahan

“I don't think Roger Ebert has ever mentioned a screenplay. He assigns every auctorial move to the director, which makes some sense since the director has run a one-off game, but if Hamlet were written last year and had been only performed once as a film, and it didn't come off well on screen for whatever reason, it would be gone forever as a literary work, and never would have been considered as one.”

Ifs Thinking Years Wells Has Beens Reason Would Be Running Lasts Film Moving Games Gone Forever Written Directors Screens Last Year Screenplays Roger Literary Works

Author:William Monahan

“If you write a screenplay that gets circulated, you have a bigger readership than any literary novelist. And it's an educated audience as well.”

Ifs Writing Wells Audience Bigger Educated Novelists Screenplays Readership

Author:William Monahan

About the Author

Born: November 3, 1960
Known for: Screenwriter
Quotes: 135

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