“But, I think it's great to be able to work with established directors, and then also first-timers. I feel like you learn from both of them, but then you can go and share your knowledge with each of them. That's really fantastic!” ThinkingFeelsFirstsAbleShareLike YouDirectorsFantasticTimer Author:Juno Temple
“Every actress has a line she'll draw, where she'll say, 'This I will do and this I won't.' For me, everything has to be important to the story and the director has to be able to tell me why.” ImportantStoriesAbleLinesDirectorsDrawsActresses Author:Sheryl Lee
“The great thing about having spent all this time on film sets is that I've been able to watch directors and how they work. I now know that this is what I want to do as well: to tell stories visually. But it's definitely my vision that I want to put across, nobody else's.” KnowsWantWellsStoriesAbleFilmVisionWatchesDirectorsGreat ThingsFilm Set Author:Catherine McCormack
“When I left the University of Iowa and made the decision to come to Rutgers, I said to my athletic director, as both of us stood there crying, 'I wish I could just take Iowa to the East Coast. That would be the best of all worlds.' Of course, I couldn't. I have the best of all worlds now by being at Rutgers, being in this part of the country and being able to embrace and receive the great prestige that is part of the Big Ten.” WorldMadeSaidCountryBigsWould BeAbleCoursesLeftWishDecisionCryDirectorsTenEmbraceUniversityEastBeing The BestCoastAthleticPrestigeIowaEast CoastRutgers Author:C. Vivian Stringer
“It's a lucky circumstance when you get to usher in new work, because you are able to ask the playwright and the director (who in a new work is always in dialogue with the playwright) an unlimited amount of questions.” AbleAsksAmountCircumstancesLuckyDirectorsDialogueUnlimitedPlaywrightNew Work Author:Gideon Glick
“I think the reason I was able to get the jobs I did is because I worked for some very strong, self-possessed filmmakers who wouldn't listen to the executive-suited wisdom, and they believed in me from director to actor. Not from salesman to commodity.” ThinkingSelfReasonAbleJobsActorsStrongDirectorsFilmmakerExecutivesVery StrongPossessedCommoditySalesmanStrong Self Author:Joseph Gordon-Levitt
“I don't care if you hate me or if you like me, as long as somebody gives me a character that is really a character to play. It's fun to be able to have a character and have a director that can direct you into a character. I'm just so happy that I got a good role. I don't care if it's bad or if it's good, and I don't care if it's drama or comedy. They are just so rare to come across.” IfsGivingLongPlayCharacterCareAbleHateFunRolesComedyDramaDirectorsDirectGive MeDon't CareLike MeI Don't CareHate MeYou Hate MeIf You Like MeIf You Hate Me Author:Salma Hayek
“The most important thing for a director is being able to communicate. When you communicate comfortably, regardless of what you're saying, it can always be processed.” ImportantAbleDirectorsImportant ThingsCommunicate Author:Kevin Hart
“I definitely want to direct. This is just another learning experience for me, to get a chance to hear the questions and concerns the directors have, some of their fears. It's a team sport. You have to give everybody what they need so they are able to perform at their best.” WantNeedsGivingAbleSportsChanceTeamDirectorsConcernDirectLearning ExperienceSports Team Author:Michael B. Jordan
“I love producing. My dream as a producer is to be able to build a company that can be a safe haven for artists, for directors and for writers and actors to do what they do best and let them have final edit. I'd like to build something to that effect.” DreamAbleArtistActorsCompanyEffectsHavensDirectorsSafeFinalsProducersEditsSafe Haven Author:Brittany Murphy
“In looking at Hollywood and its structure, the director controls the medium, and I want to be in control of certain things. I want to be able to get my own ideas and my own feelings out there, and the only way to do that is to be behind the camera.” WayWantIdeasFeelingsAbleCertainMy OwnBehindsDirectorsHollywoodCamerasStructureMediums Author:Jamie Foxx
“In acting, you are fulfilled if you give justice to your role... if you are able to do a credible performance and touch the audience. Same with directing. If you are able to draw out the best from your actors, then you fulfill your job as a director.” IfsGivingAbleJobsActorsJusticeActingRolesAudienceDirectorsDrawsPerformancesFulfilledCredible Author:Timothy Hutton
“I like working with directors because I'm really opinionated about what things work and may not work, what audiences like and may not like, (not really) but I do have opinions about things. I like to be able to say them and then have them acted on. The director who responds to me like that, always gets my appreciation. I do appreciate it. What I find is the best directors, no matter what kind of name they have, are like that.” KindMayMatterAbleNamesOpinionAudienceDirectorsAppreciateNo Matter WhatAppreciationOpinionated Author:Morgan Freeman
“I wish I could say I had some sort of master plan where one role leads to the next role, but a lot of it really is persistence and luck and being prepared when you are asked to jump on a project. There isn't any one rule that I follow. Obviously, I'll always shoot to work with the best actors, directors and filmmakers. I've been incredibly lucky to be able to do that.” AbleNextActorsWishRolesPlansMastersLuckyDirectorsProjectsLuckPreparedPersistenceFilmmaker Author:Dermot Mulroney
“I've worked with multiple directors throughout the 'Saw' series with a lot of conversations as they bring their particular installment to the screen. If I've been able to do anything throughout the course of these films, it's been to help shape dialogue and to try to make things as delicate and as intelligent as I can.” IfsTryingI CanHelpingAbleFilmCoursesSawsParticularShapesDirectorsConversationIntelligentSeriesScreensDialogueDelicateMultiple Author:Tobin Bell
“I think that what's important as a director is to give your actors the feeling that they're protected, the feeling of confidence, the feeling that if they make mistakes, then as a director, you'll know how to help them. If you're able to convey that, then the actors will give you wonderful performances. As well as the author, you have to write scenes that give the actors the opportunity to show what they're capable of.” IfsThinkingKnowsGivingWritingWellsImportantHelpingShowsFeelingsAbleActorsOpportunityMistakeKnow HowWonderfulSceneDirectorsCapablePerformancesMaking MistakesProtectedWhat's Important Author:Michael Haneke
“Director Michelle MacLaren is the John Cage of this malevolent silence, able to wield it as precisely as a pointillist with a paintbrush. And with 'To'hajiilee,' the final episode of Breaking Bad she'll ever direct, she has painted her masterpiece. Under the unblinking eye of her relentless camera, this was television not as entertainment but as endurance. It was agonizing, nauseating, unbearable. I loved every minute but hated every second. I couldn't wait for it to be over but I never wanted it to end. And I especially never wanted it to end like that.” EndsEyeAbleWantedWaitingSilenceMinutesTelevisionDirectorsDirectCamerasFinalsEntertainmentHatedEnduranceEpisodesCagesMasterpieceUnbearableRelentlessEvery SecondAgonizingPaintbrush Author:Andy Greenwald
“There is something about being a director where, for me personally, I get to . . . it's the closest I'll ever come to being able to be a stand up. And to use my particular sense of humor, and hear people laughing, without me having to stand up in front of an audience and tell jokes.” PeopleUseAbleAudienceLaughingFrontsParticularDirectorsJokesSense Of HumorClosest Author:Barry Sonnenfeld
“I don't ever like to feel myself in the position to demand of an actor that they trust I'm going to do something worthwhile. I feel a responsibility to articulate what it is I'm going to do. Whether that's showing them a full script or sitting down with them and describing my ideas in detail. It's a very healthy burden on me as a film director to be able to articulate what I want to do, to inspire actors, rather than just saying, take it on trust I'll be able to do something worthwhile.” WantFeelsIdeasAbleFilmActorsResponsibilityPositionInspireHealthyDirectorsDemandSittingScriptsDetailsBurdenWorthwhileDescribingSitting DownJust SayingFilm Directors Author:Christopher Nolan
“Any advice I could give to female directors would be the same as for males: There will be endless difficulties, some seemingly defeating, on your way. That's a given. Just wipe out the very notion of stress. Concentrate on your actors. Obsess about your story and the world it is anchored in. Deal with the hundreds of down-to-earth issues [around] the existence of your film. At some point, everything will be ripe. And you wouldn't be able to stop your film from coming to life even if you wanted to.” IfsWorldWayGivingStoriesWould BeAbleWantedEarthFilmActorsGivenDealsExistenceIssuesAdviceDirectorsFemaleDifficultyStressMalesNotionEndlessWipeRipeDown To Earth Author:Deniz Gamze Erguven
“I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to work with good directors and for me it's not really a plan each time I'm on a set with one of them; I think about what I can learn from them because I'm very aware that my filmmaking skills are very modest.” ThinkingHas BeensI CanAblePlansDirectorsSkillsFortunateFilmmakingModestGood Directors Author:Sacha Baron Cohen
“What goes on between a father and a son, which is usually such a private matter, is that they are able to be honest with each other, and be honest with me, as a director. Its just remarkable.” MatterAbleFatherHonestSonGoes OnDirectorsBeing HonestRemarkableFather Son Author:Lee Grant
“I like working with directors much, because I want to be able to give myself completely to their vision. Otherwise I would only do what I could do, again and again. I want to be taken by someone in a different direction.” WantGivingDifferentAbleVisionTakenDirectorsAgain And AgainDifferent Directions Author:Catherine Deneuve
“I don't know, being able to work with Meth was pretty damn cool, but even that day, John, the director, gave me one of the best notes I've ever had. I walked into the scene just completely excited. I just couldn't believe I was going to work with Meth.” KnowsBelieveAbleSceneDirectorsNotesExcitedDamnGoing To Work Author:Josh Peck
“It's whether they have a vision and whether they're able to communicate it. The best director is just someone who gets over-excited about doing it - they don't even have to know much about camera or acting.” KnowsAbleActingVisionDirectorsCamerasCommunicateExcitedGet Over Author:Colin Firth
“You have to really be able to trust the director. It's about the filmmaker and whether or not I'm going to be able to have a relationship with them and want to follow them down that road, wherever it may lead.” WantMayAbleDirectorsFilmmaker Author:Cameron Diaz
“If you are at odds with the director, neither one of you is going to get anywhere. You really do have to be able to make both of you happy.” IfsAbleDirectorsOdds Author:Julianne Moore
“I have a lot of respect for people who are great at ad-libbing, and for writers and directors who are able to create a scene in which that works.” PeopleAbleSceneDirectorsAds Author:Aaron Sorkin
“It was fantastic to be able to have my kids on set. Dash, my eldest son, who’s not quite five, was into knights and his godmother had given him a plastic Marks & Spencer knights’ outfit and [first assistant director] Tommy Gormley said that he could stand to protect me during the scene where Clive [Owen] is talking about the immensity of sitting on the throne. I’m actually looking through an archway at my son standing in his knights’ costume protecting me!” FirstsSaidKidsAbleGivenTalkingFiveSonSceneDirectorsProtectSittingStandingMarkFantasticMy SonPlasticThronesCostumesKnightsAssistantsImmensityEldestGodmotherEldest SonArchways Author:Cate Blanchett
“Whatever I was able to do with those experiences certainly contribute to whatever I'm able to do as a director. The corruption in that is that most of what I acted in the last 10 years was to steal film school time from these guys. Those were the people I thought I could learn from as a director.” PeopleYearsAbleSchoolLastsFilmGuyDirectorsCorruptionStealingFilm SchoolSchool Time Author:Sean Penn
“I think people were a little nervous to work with me to start with, because the movies I've done they thought that I wouldn't be able to control myself at all. I'd have to blow up the cars or something like that, and I think also people are scared of working sometimes with feature directors, because they feel like you're not going to listen to their opinions.” PeopleThinkingFeelsLittlesSometimesDoneAbleOpinionCarLike YouDirectorsScaredBlowNervousFeaturesControl Myself Author:Paul W. S. Anderson
“Directors go their whole career without being able to tell personal stories and to work with a cast as talented as they are.” WholeStoriesAbleCareersDirectorsCastsPersonal Stories Author:Christian Bale
“A lot of the things that we've been able to do in the last several years were Democratic ideas, including the structure for this new director of national intelligence.” YearsIdeasAbleLastsDirectorsStructureDemocraticIncludingNational Intelligence Author:Jane Harman
“It helps, if you've directed, to be able to write a script that is director-friendly. You're really telling them [directors], "This is how it works on this show." It takes some of the guesswork out of it.” IfsWritingHelpingShowsAbleDirectorsScriptsWork OutFriendlyGuesswork Author:Amy Sherman-Palladino
“If you are able to see on a monitor what it's actually going to look like and have that kind of feedback informing your decisions, then you're bringing back a lot of the decision-making process of the designer, the director of photography and the director away from the post-production process and bringing it back into the actual capturing of the event on film.” IfsLooksKindAbleFilmProcessDecisionEventsDirectorsPhotographyProductionsPostsDesignerDecision MakingFeedbackInformingDecision Making ProcessPost Production Author:Rick Heinrichs
“In a lot of cases, you think that the art director and the production designer designed and built this amazing set, when in fact they only built part of it and were able to extend it using all of this fabulous technology.” ThinkingArtFactsAbleCasesTechnologyDirectorsBuiltProductionsDesignerFabulousArt Director Author:Rick Heinrichs
“Being the director is really something. It's a statement of something and you have to stand up for that. Okay, this is what I see. This is how I see the world. This is how I see cinema. And you have to be able to talk about that and explain it and be responsible.” WorldAbleDirectorsOkayResponsibleStatementsCinemaBeing Responsible Author:Mathieu Demy
“My husband is a director, and I understand what it takes to direct. It's a skill set where you have to be able to talk to actors and understand them, and I don't. It's a very different way of being in the world, and I much prefer writing and producing.” WorldWayWritingDifferentAbleActorsDirectorsSkillsHusbandDirectDifferent WaysMy Husband Author:Melissa Rosenberg
“A film can be big or small - I have to just fall in love with it. To connect with the character, the script, and the director. Sometimes they say to you, 'You should do that for your career; it's a big thing, people will go and see it,' but I wouldn't be able to, because my heart wouldn't be in it. I would drive people quite mad.” PeopleShouldHeartSometimesCharacterBigsAbleFilmFallCareersMy HeartDirectorsMadFalling In LoveScriptsBig Things Author:Eva Green
“Actors, writers, directors - that triumvirate of creativity - we have to rely and trust each other to be able to get to the final product.” AbleActorsCreativityProductsDirectorsFinalsRely Author:Bryan Cranston
“You have to move really fast, as a director in television. If you're able to keep things moving on set, everybody has more fun, and when everybody has more fun, the end result is funnier.” IfsEndsAbleMovingFunResultsTelevisionDirectorsEnd Results Author:Jason Winer
“One of the great things about this cast is that we've been able to take actors of relatively the same age group that would never usually meet. You know, like bridging the comedy/drama world that for some reason casting directors never really want to bridge or you get into one community and that's kind of it.” KnowsWorldWantKindReasonAgeAbleActorsCommunityComedyGroupsDramaDirectorsCastsGreat ThingsBridgesCastingCasting Directors Author:Alison Pill
“The most important thing for a director is being able to communicate.” ImportantAbleDirectorsImportant ThingsCommunicate Author:Kevin Hart
“My philosophy is, 'Show up, shut up, and do your job,' and if you do it to the satisfaction of your director and the public, you're likely to be able to do it again.” IfsPhilosophyShowsAbleJobsDirectorsSatisfactionShut Up Author:Stephen Lang
“Sometimes I'll go for something more because of the story, or more because of the director. But, generally, I have to feel like it's something that I have a real sympathy for - a person that I can completely go, "Oh, wow, oh, I'm there." Otherwise I don't feel like I will be able to pull it off at all. I know I haven't done everything very well in the past; some things have worked and some things haven't. But I need to feel like I can feel about the person, understand that person, I suppose.” KnowsNeedsFeelsWellsPersonsI CanRealSometimesDoneStoriesAblePastHavensDirectorsWow Author:Guy Pearce
“Establishing what the vision is and being able to stick to it is the job, and everyone should be on the same page, going in. With that said, first-time director or not, you never know what you're going to get.” KnowsShouldFirstsSaidAbleJobsVisionDirectorsPagesFirst TimeSticks Author:Thomas Jane
“As a director, I hoped that I was able to help the actors by giving them the space and the respect they need and the trust. I gave them what I always felt I needed when I was working.” NeedsGivingHelpingAbleActorsFeltSpaceNeededDirectors Author:Angelina Jolie
“I didn't go to acting school, so it was great to be able to rehearse for a month or two, to workshop, and be with a director who even gave me acting exercises.” TwoAbleSchoolActingMonthsExerciseDirectorsWorkshops Author:Charlotte Gainsbourg
“The directors I consider really great have the ability to recognize when something's going in an unexpected direction and see it as a bonus and be able to go with it, as opposed to locking down what they thought was going to happen.” HappensAbleAbilityDirectorsUnexpectedReally GreatBonus Author:Susan Sarandon
“I tend to ... if I decide to do a job, want to be able to trust my director...” IfsWantAbleJobsDirectors Author:Charlize Theron