Asghar Farhadi Quotes

I must say, to my great surprise and pleasure, I deeply loved making movies in the United States because of all the opportunities it gave me to work with people that I admire as artists.

In most cases, I think most executive producers and studio executives really do their best to accommodate you. At least, that's been my experience in most cases.

It's amazing how quickly human beings adapt, isn't it? It was such a great crew, and David [Lynch] was wonderful to work with [on 'The Elephant Man']. It was a very thrilling time, actually.

I like working with writer-directors because you can solve problems right there.

When you do movies, it's you have a 3-month family and then everybody goes away and then joins another family, you know?

You don't always just have to do an indie movie to feel like you're controlling it with a few people that you really have connected with, creatively. You can do it on a bigger scale.

The best thing about series TV is that everyone you work with is hand-picked, as compared to working on a film.

My favorite thing about this business is you're just jammed in a room on a set with like-minded people - writers, directors, and art designers and hairdressers. People who didn't work a 9-to-5 but chose this life. You're going to like at least two or three people in that you love these people so much.

I suppose directing on set is the most fun because it's a good crack and you feel you're on the battlefield whereas writing is a fairly solitary undertaking.

I feel very lucky to be able to make movies in New Zealand, and I will always be grateful for the support I have received from so many New Zealanders.

You make a movie with some people, you become friends over the process of making this movie and then... you go your own way.

As a painter you're responsible yourself, 100 percent. In film, you have the editor, the director, the other actors. It has the advantage of not being solitary.

The black community in Hollywood is very small and close-knit. Everyone has a common goal: to make a two-hour movie in 30 days.

I landed a job with Roger Corman. The job was to write the English dialogue for a Russian science fiction picture. I didn't speak any Russian. He didn't care whether I could understand what they were saying; he wanted me to make up dialogue.

I'm used to working with the director and producer, and that's my relationship. It's very simple.

I have no directing ambition whatsoever. And as long as I meet filmmakers like Tom Hooper, Stephen Frears, and others who allow that collaboration, I can't see why I would ever want to direct.

Certainly, a lot of the films I've worked on have ended up good movies, but they haven't always been the best experiences.

Yeah, I like working in television, a lot. I really enjoyed my time on 'Lost.' I like developing that hint of family with people. I mean, if you're on a happy set. If you're on a set where there's some sour apples, then I don't like working in television.

On the whole, a director who make the set a comfortable place to work is really important, whether it's a comedy or drama.

As an actor, you're in the hands of producers and directors. It's important to find out who you're working with.

Acting is a community where you come in and out of each other's lives. I'm slightly envious of the Golden Age of Hollywood. It must have been frustrating to be owned by the studio, but it was also like being in a company, working with the same people, and that appeals to me.

Ultimately what I try to do is work on stories I love with people I admire, and sometimes they get made and sometimes they don't.

I think my sweet spot is to make personal films on not-too-big budgets and also make other people's films, bringing productions to Iceland, upping the business here.

For me, working on the sets with Mani Ratnam is so familiar. It is the place where I grew up, so I am not nervous here.

I do a film only when I feel I will be comfortable with the set-up and other members of the team.