Actors' quotes about acting and filmmaking

“You can tell a story clearly in the storyboards, but if you don't keep the correct focus in the animation, it can be ruined.”
Lee Unkrich

“I don't think I'm ever going to work on a movie again where I don't have final cut.”
Karyn Kusama

“Actors know how to talk to other actors in a way that sometimes other directors just don't.”
Grant Heslov

“The real measure of good directing is knowing when not to move the camera, when not to intrude. ”
Ken Kwapis

“A filmmaker can never be distant from his roots.”
Walter Salles

“Every character when born is a stereotype.”
Michael Patrick King

“Being a writer-director can sometimes make you incredibly blinkered.”
Anthony Minghella

“Tone is everything in TV.”
Ryan Murphy

“Making movies is really tough. And it's stressful as it is, and I think that most of us got in this business because it's fun to make movies.”
Francis Lawrence

“I think the movie business and film crews are a little bit like the circus, in that we travel around like a pack and we're a big family for a finite period of time.”
Francis Lawrence

“I'm almost exclusively interested in what happens behind closed doors, between people. The removal of their public face.”
Steven Shainberg

“I like to give my actors a lot of room.”
Nick Cassavetes

“The job of director is to control the illusion.”
King Vidor

“I always claim that the writer has done 90 percent of the director's work.”
Harold Ramis

“No matter what I have to say, I'm still trying to say it in comedic form.”
Harold Ramis

“My characters aren't losers. They're rebels. They win by their refusal to play by everyone else's rules.”
Harold Ramis

“I came from a background of directing behind-the-scenes documentaries.”
Peyton Reed

“The only thing more gratifying than working with someone who you've worked well with is working with someone new and coming up with something great.”
Jonathan Demme

“I only work with actors who take full responsibility for their characters.”
Jonathan Demme

“My hands are already full writing and directing, because that's a full time job. Actually, that's why I don't produce as well, as there's already enough producers.”
David Twohy

“There's a good many pictures I'd like to make; we'll see how many I'll be allowed to make.”
Terrence Malick

“I prefer working behind the camera.”
Terrence Malick

“Every film takes on a life of its own, and it's influenced by you, and it's influenced by all the other players that are involved with it as well.”
Kevin Reynolds

“The really interesting directors are those that use the camera in such a way to make you perceive a scene in a very particular way.”
Kevin Reynolds

“Usually, you can shoot a movie in 10 or 12 weeks.”
Peter Farrelly