Alfonso Cuaron Quotes

More than working toward the book's climax, I work toward the denouement. As a reader and a writer, that's where I find the real satisfaction.

You have a movie and it proves itself and then certain things happen.

In 'Breaking Bad,' we have a lead character who definitely finds himself in a situation he would never have expected to find himself in normally.

I like three-dimensional characters - it's just more interesting when you get on set.

I'm kind of a dummy. I make movies and not realize until afterwards, 'Oh, I'm the protagonist.'

'Freaky Ali' is not a heavy film. It's a simple but inspiring film. It will inspire those who want to go from zero to hundred. People who have made an effort to achieve success from nothing will be able to connect to the character.

As an actor, my No. 1 focus was to be on the same page with the writer, director, and producers.

I think I approached 'Captain Phillips' as I would any project. I always try to understand the story, characters, and themes as deeply as possible and then work as hard as I can to make those things come to life.

To me, action has to come from the plot.

My characters are not thinking about the act breaks. They're thinking about what they need to do to move forward. As long as I focus on that, the story starts to progress. As soon as I think, 'We're 20 pages in, something better blow up,' we're in trouble.

I go straight into shooting with a script that's 80 per cent complete and I wait for my characters to grow on me before I finalise the climax.

If I am not playing the villain then I'll play the friend, or the brother who dies in the third reel.

'Old Town Road' came after a period of feeling like I was out of options. I was living with my sister. She was pretty much fed up with me being there.

I try to mix the characters up and not be second guessed by the audience.

While we were in the middle of 'Avatar' we got a lot of volatile reaction from fans. They were very upset with the direction we were taking Zuko.

When I first came to Columbia University, I was dirt poor. I did not choose to come here - I just ended up here because I had nowhere else to go, having just escaped from China after Tiananmen. I was in a new country where I didn't understand the language, didn't know anybody, and didn't have a penny to my name. So I was desperate and afraid.

I love Meghna Gulzar's film making and her style of story telling. In her films, every character, small or big, is beautifully etched.

I've done a lot of ad films where an idea can be translated in 30 or 40 seconds. But in a movie, an idea needs to be stretched for two hours, and requires you to draw a bit from your experiences in life.

Endings don't have anything to do with what your movie is about. Now, there is an emotional climax, there's an emotional resolution that is 100 percent important. If I get that wrong, get your money back.

When you're the lead, as I was in 'Offender,' you don't have to be perfect all the time; you've got time to get it right.

Working with George Miller was an education. It was eight college degrees in character development and directing all at once.

I was just coming out of prison, I was married, and I had a kid, and I didn't know what to do, so I tried stand-up.

I've always believed that the script is the boss.

I want to do content-driven film, powerful roles which I've never done before.

I look at the story and see what I have got to do in the film. Sometimes the story is great, set-up is good but there isn't much for you to do. I don't want to do that.