On working with director Werner Herzog: I have to shoot without any breaks. I yell at Herzog and hit him. I have to fight for every sequence. I wish Herzog would catch the plague.
I look at the stories that Spike Lee tells. . . Great stories. Great director, great storyteller.
When I came to England, the first director I met was Charles Sturridge, who told me, 'You speak like somebody out of the 1950s.
At best, I think of a director as a magnet. You get all the metal fillings in all the individual actors and crew, and get those filings moving toward your magnetic direction.
I realized the exciting place was behind the camera with the producer, director and so on.
First of all the criteria that I have that goes into any career decision is whether or not I have the life experience, emotional resources to play the part truthfully or the imagination. Second, would be the director.
As a director and filmmaker, I love creating my own opportunity, and getting to share the love, in that way, by creating other opportunities for people that I admire, so that they can do something in a way they haven't done it before.
First, you have to be intelligent. I have never met a successful director who isn't intelligent. A director who is not intelligent might have one hit picture, but he won't be able to follow it up. So I look for intelligence.
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.
Acting doesn't exist in a vacuum. You need the director to have a set of eyes.
I've never wanted to be a fireman, in my life. I've never really wanted to grow up and be anything other than a film director.
Cast PURPOSE as the lead in your movie and you will help God, your Director, produce a masterwork.
As soon as an actor has faith in a director, he just goes with it.
I didn't just see myself as a film director here [in Life And Nothing More], but also as an observer of people who had been condemned to death.
I don't choose my projects based on genre, I choose them based on the role and whether or not I've tackled that yet, based on the director and such.
With RoboCop, I couldn't be happier because it's such a quality director. José Padilha is a young master.
I have been a director who has starred, participated on both sides of the filmmaking process.
Barry Levinson is such a deceptive director, because he seems really lackadaisical. I'd never worked with him before, and I almost got the impression that he didn't really care that much because he was so laid-back. Sometimes we'd finish filming hours before the day was over, which is just unthinkable in any other film experience I've had. I couldn't believe that Barry had the passion for it.
I feel that I am just a storyteller, and whether I am wearing the director hat or the playwright hat, it doesn't matter.
A lot of the music editing job is communication and working out what a director really wants the music to be.