Guillermo del Toro Quotes

I would rather not make a film than make one where I don't have final cut.

You act in a movie, and at the end of the day, the director and editor decide what your performance is.

Don't worry about getting final cut, worry about making the best possible cut.

There are directors, and I think this is true of all directors, it would be true if I was a director - If the actor didn't want to do what I was suggesting, I would let him do it his way, and then I would say to him, "Just give me one where you do what the director wants", and that, of course, is the take that's used.

I wrote a script and I've been whispering in director's ears for a really long time and I'd love to direct.

The first cut I do is usually between five and 10 minutes shorter then the cut that we release. Anything I think isn't working or might not work, I don't even put it in the director's cut. And usually it's the studio suggesting I put stuff back in, as opposed to studios saying, "You got to lose 40 minutes," they are always saying, "You've got to gain five minutes."

I wanted to just be a filmmaker, and I thought I wanted to do all the aspects, and it seemed like as a producer was the best way to do it, because I could have... You never have control on a movie, but you have as much control as you can.

All the films I do, I write the scripts, I direct.

All the director wants is their idea of the movie to be believed in.

My M.F.A was in directing, and all the films I've made, for film school and after, I've written, directed and shot.

The truth is, it's a totalitarian dictatorship when you're making films. You are the boss. You can listen to other people, and it can be a benevolent dictatorship, but it's a dictatorship nonetheless. A lot of directors go past their first experience, that's what they've come away with.

Even though I studied in New York and I know the American system, I come from France where I learned that with movies in France where the director is king. There's no such thing as a studio edit. It's the director's cut, period.

I love being on set, because I've basically grown up on a set. And now I love to contribute as a director and help steer the ship, if you will.

As far as writing or directing a film, I've worked with enough people who have done that that I know it's just a whole other level of responsibility and chaos and murder that I could not see happening. For now, I'm just going to see what comes. I know what I like and what direction I have.

With Kubrick and most film directors, they are in complete control, but one can influence them.

The only person who has artistic control is the director, and 'director' is how you spell God in Hollywood.

There is an isolated experience to being a director. It's very communal because there's a crew, but it's only you. You're the one on the hook.

Movies are great fun and wonderful when they're good. But you never get to see them till six months after they're finished. So you never get a sense of whether they're really well liked or how good they are. And you don't really know what the finished product is going to be like, because it's a director's medium.

Director of any film is very important, and an actor has to leave himself in his hands to mould.

I have a stack of scripts that I've read - I'm in the lucky position where I get offered things - but I haven't wanted to direct many of them.

I want to get into producing and writing more for myself - setting up my own films and seeing what kind of personal touch I can put on movies, as opposed to just being in them.

I would always direct my own stuff in Mexico.

I want to act for the rest of my life - and I also want to pursue directing. Watching Bill Condon direct 'Twilight' kind of made me think, 'OK yeah, I really want to do this now.' This idea that you can make an image in your head and be in full control of how it comes out - I thought that was really cool.

I've never been given an opportunity to direct, but man, I would love to try my hand at that.

We always said that directors work their whole lives to get final cut on a movie. We have that. So why would you want to run away from what every other director is sprinting toward their entire careers?