A lot of people that make films say, 'We need this kind of character. Who's done it before? Get them to do it again. ' That is exactly what actors are pushing against. It's kind of a cliche to talk about being stereotyped in that way, but it happens.
Curiously, directing my own films have made me more tolerant and patient. I've always been an extremely impatient actor. Waiting around drove me nuts. But now I'm much more sympathetic to a director's struggle.
I like the platform to show your art and everything that goes along with that. To show your voice and hopefully find films that are more politically driven, films that maybe inspire.
I've done some music for films and I really enjoy doing it.
I chose films made by people I wanted to work with, about subject matter I thought was intriguing.
I do not think that my films or films by any other filmmaker represent "THE TRUTH. " I do not feel the need to categorize my films or anyone else's.
I don't make romantic films. I make films about human relationships.
When I was a kid, I thought movie stars were women and men who were in these great films that we still look at now. But I don't think there are too many films coming out these days that we're going to look at in the future and say, "This is one of the great ones. "
When I was young I wanted to make films and then I got into folk music when I was about 12, and started going to this folk club in Auckland. My dad [Barry Andrews] was in punk and post-punk bands, so I guess it was a side of music I hadn't really listened to before - the really narrative form of songwriting.
I love the idea of people being themselves in films.
I know from the past, critics often say my films don't have any plot, that kind of thing. I'm used to being told, "Yeah, it's slow and has no plot. "
Films tend to argue in favor of whatever they show.
The United States and Turkey are the only two countries that don't have some kind of subsidy for the Arts. The whole culture in society has made certain films more acceptable. I turned down so many films in the '60s and '70s.
I think one of my very favorite films of all time was with Peter Sellers when he played Chauncey, the gardener. Being There.
It's hard, really, to make any physical movement that hasn't been done in another film. If you grab someone's hand, it doesn't mean you're referencing other films with grabbing hands.
We have to support our own films. If we don't, how can we expect others to support them?
I'd love to work in America, some of my favourite films come from America.
I think about my films for a long time, maybe years, but I write them in days.
The good thing about a film, or at least the films I've been a part of, is, no matter what happens in the end, you do the premiere and everyone's excited. You don't remember the rough times.
I always wanted to do films. I'd gone to New York early in 1976 and did a lot of theater, but I really wanted to chase the paths of people like Pacino and Lemmon and those guys. Alan Arkin. Film was where I wanted to go.