Quotes

In 1999, Mrs. Christiane Kubrick lost her husband Stanley, the greatest filmmaker who ever lived. I guess she's still hurting from his loss. But she needs to understand, the world is still hurting, too. We are all still hurting. I feel like he still had two great films in him before he died. But we'll never know.

If you want to become a great, successful actor -- you better work hard and you better come up with an interesting hobby like knitting socks or get used to being a prisoner. Because a lot of your days working will be spent sitting around on set -- waiting for the director to need you.

Whether it's a song, a poem, a sculpture, a painting or a film -- the ultimate test for any art is -- does it touch you emotionally? Or more importantly -- does it create hope?

I've always heard there's no beer in heaven. I wonder if there will be films. If so, there will also likely be large tubs of buttery popcorn and giant, syrupy sodas -- and straws.

Probably nine out of 10 people who set out to write a script never complete it. Of those, probably one in 100 scripts will ever be made into a film. So, the next time you see a crappy movie, at least give the filmmaker credit for finding the funding and getting his crappy movie made.

If you don't have something to say to, or about the world -- don't make the film.

In the history of the world there are less than 50 extraordinary filmmakers. That's the most exclusive club I can think of professionally. Yes, I am working very hard to try to be in that club. To me, one has a better chance of becoming Pope than an extraordinary filmmaker.

I spent ten years in front of cameras as a television news anchor/reporter. The thought of accidentally cursing on camera during that time was a sickening thought. Now, to be playing bad guys spewing out all kinds of rough language in front of cameras feels very, very strange.

Making a great action film is a dangerous thing. Great actors like Vic Morrow and Brandon Lee have been killed doing so. Eli Wallach almost died twice while shooting The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Be careful.

As a writer/director -- trying to get a film made is a lot like trying to get elected to a significant political office. It's a process and it takes time. A lot of times it's a ton of work for absolutely nothing. You must sell yourself and your ideas constantly and surround yourself with a team of people who also want this to happen. Then it becomes a campaign. And you have to fight for it and believe every day that it's not a crazy dream.

I wonder what a conversation would be like between the greatest actor of all time, the greatest director of all time and the greatest producer? And what kind of a film would Marlon Brando, Stanley Kubrick and David O. Selznick make together? What would it be about?

Life is like a box of chocolates only because most of it is overpriced and you have to take whatever it gives you with a smile.

You're never as great as you think you are professionally. And you're rarely as bad as you fear you might be.

Truth may be stranger than fiction, but fiction is so much easier to write because it has no limitations -- truth does.

Artists, writers and actors may have something they want to say with their particular work -- or maybe it's something that they feel and don't really know how to say. So, they let their creation try to say it for them.

I don't necessarily believe a film is a linear story. I believe it is more of a development of feelings and moods that tend to build. To me, a film is more like a song than a story.

Great works of art like paintings, sculptures, poems, songs or films tend to find a way to re-work life as it truly is and make it something just a little bit different but still very believable and real. Art can never create life but it can present it to the beholder in a brand new, sometimes unforseen way.

A film director is not an acting coach. He/she is someone who simply knows when a performance is right or wrong for the story and the particular scene and particular character. If you as an actor don't already know what your character is going through and thinking in that moment and how to properly convey that by the time you arrive on set -- you're pretty much dooming yourself to failure and are likely to damage your production. A director can't do it for you. You have to fully prepare yourself for all the moments your character will be in the middle of.

The only films I'm really interested in making are the ones that I would really like to see -- and can't wait for someone else to make.

If you want to make a great film, give it a strong message. These days most movies have a message that isn't really even a message.

Making movies is really about 95% hustle over the course of years and 5% about making the actual movie. Kind of a shame and kind of strange but that's the reality of it.

The prevailing school of thought for a great film is action/drama first then the spoken word second. But to me, I need to know what the character says and thinks before I see him/her do something. That's what makes the most sense to me in a story.