“Often when you get a really good script, and you receive the new pages, you see that the entire thing has been dumbed down. Films in the '30s and '40s, that were huge blockbusters, were very sophisticated in their language, and the ideas they brought. There were no questions about whether the audience would get it or not.” Has BeensIdeasFilmLanguageAudienceHugePagesScriptsSophisticatedBlockbuster Author:Connie Nielsen
“If you get a book which is 600 pages, you have to reduce it to a script of 100 pages. In two hours of film, you cannot possibly include all the characters.” IfsTwoBookCharacterFilmHoursPagesScripts Author:Dino De Laurentiis
“Sometimes you do feel a script that glows in your hand the moment you start reading it. By page four of Shakespeare in Love, I said, 'I have to be in this movie.” FeelsSaidSometimesMomentsHandsReadingFourPagesScripts Author:Geoffrey Rush
“I liked to think I had written 'scripts' when I was in high school, but looking back at them, they were about thirty pages of wannabe-Mamet dialogue with a staple through them.” ThinkingSchoolWrittenPagesHigh SchoolScriptsDialogueThirtyLooking BackStaplesWannabes Author:Lorene Scafaria
“I'd always envied actors who got to play real people or got to do research. I've always just had these scripts where, I mean not in a bad way, but it was right on the page.” PeopleWayMeanRealPlayActorsPagesResearchScriptsEnvied Author:Luke Wilson
“All actors bring something unexpected to the role because they have to translate what's on the page and make a real character out of the black-and-white text that's there in the script.” RealCharacterActorsBlackWhiteRolesPagesScriptsUnexpectedBlack And WhiteTranslateReal CharacterSomething Unexpected Author:Joe Johnston
“The only thing that I always do - is once I've taken on a job, even just to do one scene in a movie, I ask myself, "What's happened the moment the kid was born, until page one of the script?" To answer that simple question, I have an infinite amount of work to do. And I enjoy that part as much as I enjoy any part of making movies.” MomentsKidsJobsAsksEnjoyBornSimpleAnswersTakenHappenedAmountScenePagesInfiniteScripts Author:Viggo Mortensen
“I read a ton of scripts. I read a lot of scripts, and you read one, and first of all, you felt like you read it in 14 minutes, because you're turning the pages so fast you can't wait to see what's going to happen.” FirstsHappensFeltWaitingMinutesLike YouPagesScripts Author:Denzel Washington
“I read a lot of scripts, so I know by page 25 if I like it or not.” IfsKnowsPagesScripts Author:Ben Cross
“Twenty-two pages is not a lot of space. Believe me. Having written a bazillion comics, I still find myself more often than nine pages into a script and realizing to my horror that I'm only about a quarter of the way through the story I wanted to tell, and the next thing you know, I'm making fresh coffee and tearing up the floorboards to rewrite.” KnowsWayBelieveStillsTwoBookStoriesWantedNextRealizingSpaceWrittenHorrorPagesTwentiesScriptsCoffeeNineComicQuartersBelieve In MeComic BookTwenty Two Author:Mark Waid
“When you pick up a script and you can't stop reading it because it's a real page-turner, that's a good sign.” RealReadingPagesPicksScriptsTurner Author:Karl Urban
“Some people say that they read the first 20 pages, and then decide if they want to do the film or not. But, I have to read the entire thing cause anything can change in a script.” PeopleIfsWantFirstsFilmCausesPagesScripts Author:Liana Liberato
“I like to flip through play scripts, not just my own; there is something exciting about seeing printed language on a page that triggers responses in me.” PlayLanguageMy OwnSeeingPagesExcitingResponseScriptsTriggersPrintedFlip Author:Donald Margulies
“Normally, when I read a script, I read 30 pages, and then go have a cup of tea and come back. And then, I read 20 pages and go make a phone call, and then go back to it.” PagesScriptsPhonesCupsTeaPhone CallsCups Of Tea Author:Luke Pasqualino
“If you read a part that you want to play, and you already know you have actors you want to work with but it's not on the page, it's not going to be on the screen. So that is the most difficult thing to do for a producer, is to get a script that attracts this kind of talent.” IfsKnowsWantKindPlayActorsDifficultTalentPagesScriptsScreensProducersThings To DoDifficult Things Author:Jerry Bruckheimer
“On Stranger Than Fiction, the script was so good that I stuck to every line because it was just such brilliant writing from Zach Helm that I felt like I really just want to shoot the page.” WantWritingFeltLinesFictionPagesScriptsStrangerBrilliantStuckHelmStranger Than Fiction Author:Marc Forster
“When I am writing I don't set a certain number of pages. I do know that the further into a script I get the faster it goes. As soon as you start making decisions you start cutting off all of the other possibilities of things that could happen. So with every decision that you make you are removing a whole bunch of other possibilities of where that story can go or what that character can do. So when I get maybe 2/3's of the way through I can see very clearly where it is going to go.” KnowsWayWritingI CanWholeCharacterStoriesHappensCertainCan DoDecisionNumbersCuttingPossibilityPagesScriptsBunchFasterMaking DecisionsCutting Off Author:Steven Zaillian
“Page one of the script, I launch into, "How would I feel if I were in this position?" That's an actor's job.” IfsFeelsJobsActorsPositionPagesScripts Author:Dermot Mulroney
“Whether it's a lower or higher budget project, a TV show or a film, the words on the page are the same to me and I approach the work in the same way. My job is to lift the character from the page, whether it's a TV or film script.” WayCharacterShowsJobsFilmTvsHigherProjectsApproachPagesScriptsLiftsBudgetsTv Shows Author:Michael Eklund
“When you're working on a script, every word that's on the page, somebody has to read it. Make every word count in your stories.” StoriesPagesScripts Author:Jonathan Demme
“Sometimes I watch films that I can't believe got made. Especially because I read scripts that are truly incredible, that will never get made. I don't know who is behind those decisions. It's like you just have to doodle something on a page about the underdog who finally gets the girl and the film gets made.” KnowsBelieveMadeI CanSometimesFilmGirlDecisionBehindsWatchesLike YouPagesIncrediblesScriptsUnderdog Author:Jennifer Lawrence
“No one ever wants the whole script. I give the whole script to people who require the whole script but to those people who don't require the whole script I don't give it to them and no one cares. They're relieved not to have to read extra pages that they're not in.” PeopleWantGivingWholeCarePagesScriptsExtrasRelievedNo One Cares Author:Woody Allen
“You have no idea what's going to happen [in Downton Abbey] until you get the script. We roughly knew a couple of the key points that were going to happen, but when I got the last episode, I turned to the last page to check that I was still alive.” StillsIdeasHappensLastsAliveKeysCouplePagesScriptsChecksNo IdeaEpisodesAbbey Author:Hugh Bonneville
“As an actor, you very rarely have the experience of picking up a script and getting a few pages into it and realizing that what you're holding in your hands is not just a role on a TV show, but it's one of those special parts that comes along, once or twice in a career. If you're lucky, you get an opportunity to do something really memorable and to be part of one of those rare shows that passes into that special category.” IfsShowsHandsActorsOpportunityRealizingCareersRolesSpecialTvsLuckyPagesScriptsMemorableCategoriesTv ShowsLucky You Author:Holt McCallany
“It may take hundreds of pages before you begin to get a handle on the craft of writing, and your first scripts may not work. The next five to twenty may not either. However, the ones that do work owe everything to the ones that didn't.” WritingFirstsMayNextFivePagesTwentiesScriptsHandleCrafts Author:Geoffrey S. Fletcher
“Yeah I was aware of the book, but hadn't read it. So as soon as I'd finished the script, I got a copy of the book and read that. My wife had read it and she loves it, so that was a good sounding board. I like her writing style, she's such a page-turner. I enjoyed The Constant Princess as well. I think she's great. The books are very popular with women and I can see why.” ThinkingWritingWellsI CanBookWifeStylePagesYeahConstantScriptsMy WifeFinishedEnjoyedBoardsCopiesPrincessLike HerVery PopularTurnerWriting Style Author:Eric Bana
“It's really hard to find stuff that is original. You pick up scripts and in four pages you know where it's going and the same thing when you are sitting in a theatre, I just rejoice when something unfolds in a way that I'm not conducive.” KnowsWayHardStuffFourPagesPicksSittingOriginalsScriptsTheatreRejoice Author:Susan Sarandon
“I've done films where you have to get in shape for purely vanity reasons, when you read a script, turn to page 87 and it says: "Rips his shirt off and casually throws it onto chair" - and you're going to go to the gym the next day because nobody wants to see your big fat arse out there taking your shirt off!” WantReasonDoneBigsFilmTurnsNextShapesPagesScriptsFatsVanityShirtsChairsGymNext DayRipArsesShirt OffGetting In Shape Author:Bruce Willis
“I'm most suspicious of scripts that have a lot of stage direction at the top of the page sunrise over the desert and masses of a whole essay before you get to the dialogue.” WholeStageMassPagesScriptsDialogueDesertSunriseEssaysSuspiciousHopkinsStage Directions Author:Anthony Hopkins
“I think that's all you can hope for as an actor when you read a script; that after the first thirty pages it has some meaning to it.” ThinkingFirstsActorsPagesScriptsThirty Author:Cary Elwes
“Every single time I read a script I'm breathless as I turn the pages.” TurnsPagesScriptsBreathless Author:Naomi Grossman
“I got sent the script [ Before I Go To Sleep] as usually happens and you have a little look. I know it's a bit of a cliché, but it was absolutely a page turner. I mean, I wanted to find out what happened next.” KnowsLooksMeanLittlesHappensWantedNextBitsSleepHappenedPagesScriptsGoing To SleepTurner Author:Mark Strong
“For those of us at Marvel Television, it always begins with the story. It's all about the script. It's making sure it's there, on the page. So, we needed to go to a group of individuals who have not only created some of the most memorable animated characters, like Ben 10 and Generator Rex, but also had done two seasons of our very successful Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man series, and that's the Man of Action guys. But, it wasn't just that.” MenTwoDoneCharacterStoriesActionGuyIndividualSuccessfulGroupsTelevisionHe ManNeededPagesUltimateSeasonsSeriesScriptsMemorableSpidersAnimatedSpider ManGeneratorMost Memorable Author:Jeph Loeb
“Marvel is very secretive, so there was no script. About six months before production, they gave me some pages and it was from a cop movie. And then, six months later, I got a phone call saying, "Do you want to come do this?" [iron Man]” MenWantMonthsSixPagesScriptsPhonesProductionsIronCopSix MonthsPhone CallsSecretiveIron Man Author:James Badge Dale
“I guess the idea of not wanting to choose to direct a film, for which I've not read a script. It's a tough decision to make without seeing any pages. That's not to say that I don't have all the faith in the world in the spectacular writers.” WorldIdeasFilmDecisionSeeingPagesToughDirectScriptsSpectacularTough Decisions Author:J. J. Abrams
“When I'm writing, it's about the page. It's not about the movie. It's not about cinema. It's about the literature of me putting my pen to paper and writing a good page and making it work completely as a document unto itself. That's my first artistic contribution. If I do my job right, by the end of the script, I should be having the thought, 'You know, if I were to just publish this now and not make it . . . I'm done.” IfsKnowsShouldWritingFirstsEndsDoneJobsLiteraturePaperPagesScriptsArtisticCinemaContributionPensDocumentsPublish Author:Quentin Tarantino
“I try to research or make up for myself what happened in any character's life. From when he was born until the first page of the script. I fill in the blanks.” TryingFirstsCharacterBornHappenedPagesResearchScripts Author:Viggo Mortensen
“This basic thing I always do: 'What happened between the character's birth, and page one of the script?' Anything that's not in the story, I'll fill in the blanks.” CharacterStoriesHappenedBirthPagesScriptsBasic Things Author:Viggo Mortensen
“When I'm writing a script, before I can write dialogue or anything, I have two or three hundred pages of notes, which takes me a year. So, it's not like "what happens next." I've got things that I'm thinking about but I don't settle on them. And if I try to write dialogue before then, I can't. It's just garbage.” IfsThinkingWritingTryingYearsI CanTwoHappensThreeNextPagesHundredNotesScriptsDialogueSettlingTake MeGarbage Author:Charlie Kaufman
“I think what's difficult is proving to people that a script actually does work and sometimes the laughter might not be on the page, it might be between the lines.” PeopleThinkingDoeSometimesMightDifficultLinesProvePagesLaughterScriptsBetween The Lines Author:Alice Lowe
“There was no script, but I said, 'I'm in, regardless' and was committed to Legends before I saw a single page.It was a lovely surprise to find so much meat on the bone.” SaidSawsPagesSurpriseScriptsCommittedBonesLovelyMeatLegends Author:Wentworth Miller
“I used to pile on the detail, which was probably a way of hedging my bets while I was working out my own way of doing things. I've cut it back over the years, but some of the descriptions can still be still pretty dense. So the answer is somewhere between fairly detailed and maybe too detailed. Fortunately, people are seeing the final pages and not my raw script.” PeopleWayYearsStillsUsedMy OwnAnswersCuttingSeeingPagesFinalsScriptsDetailsWork OutDescriptionDenseHedging Author:James Vance
“Reading the script [Insane Farting Corpse], by page two or three, I felt that way. I thought, I'm in. It was so beautiful and insane and funny and I wanted to see it happen.” WayTwoHappensWantedBeautifulThreeReadingFeltPagesScriptsInsaneCorpses Author:Paul Dano
“Sitting opposite Steven Spielberg, while he turns the pages of your script and talks about each scene as he goes, is about the best film school you can get.” SchoolFilmTurnsScenePagesSittingOppositesScriptsFilm SchoolBest Film Author:Matt Charman
“Theratre is not like like in film and TV, where you have to stop and go back and keep redoing the same three pages for two hours. You get to go through the whole 80 pages of the script, which is incredible. You get to keep acting on the feelings you had just moments before. You don't have to psych yourself up for the scene. You can just go off what you were already feeling.” TwoWholeMomentsFeelingsFilmThreeHoursActingTvsScenePagesIncrediblesScriptsPsych Author:Taissa Farmiga
“I really like the "two is better than three" line. People ask me is this drama or comedy? I just think the more colors you have to a film the better. The more genres, the more people will like it. I like relating to the whole general speaking public. The script itself is 99 pages but the novel it is based on is 600. I had to leave a lot of stuff out of the script. I had a limitation of what I could present on the big screen.” PeopleThinkingTwoWholeBigsFilmThreeAsksStuffLinesNovelComedyColorDramaPagesScriptsScreensLimitationGenreAsk MeBig Screen Author:Tommy Wiseau
“You know, my problem with most screenwriting is it is a blueprint. It's like they're afraid to write the damn thing. And I'm a writer. That's what I do. I want it to be written. I want it to work on the page first and foremost. So when I'm writing the script, I'm not thinking about the viewer watching the movie. I'm thinking about the reader reading the script.” ThinkingKnowsWantWritingFirstsProblemReadingWrittenReaderPagesScriptsDamnViewersBlueprintsScreenwritingDamn Things Author:Quentin Tarantino
“I wish I was one of those people who could write script after script and pages and pages. I can only aspire to do that.” PeopleWritingI CanWishPagesScriptsAspire Author:Fred Armisen
“You just knew you were in great hands with somebody so talented, so bright and with such depth. We both [with Ellen Page] loved the script and the book [Into the Forest], which I read after I read the script, and highlighted it and dog-eared it to craziness.” BookHandsDogPagesDepthScriptsForestsCraziness Author:Evan Rachel Wood
“I meet Susan [Saradon], and she was amazing. We sit down to go through the script [Thelma & Louise]. I swear, I think it was page one - she says, "So my first line, I don't think we need that line. Or we could put it on page two. Cut this ..." And I was just like ... My jaw was to the ground.” ThinkingNeedsFirstsTwoLinesCuttingPagesScriptsSwear Author:Geena Davis