David Leitch Quotes

Exactly the same with dancing, you can't dance until you've learnt steps, the things your feet can do.

Action choreographer is like talking. When you talk, you have a rhythm. When you act, you have a rhythm. When you're moving your body, you have a rhythm. So as an actor, as a choreographer, the objective is trying to blend everything in - into - ultimately back into that character.

Dancing is just like racing. You don't learn choreography. They just give you steps to do, and you do them over and over and over. It's very much like what I do in racing.

To make it more familiar to me, I ended up treating my swordplay scenes like choreography. So it was, 'One and two and three and four and five, and turn and step and down and up and lunge.'

Dance has helped me with everything. It was a great foundation for discipline, hard work and, unfortunately, the ever-elusive idea of perfection. It lends itself easily to fight choreography, because that's what it really is. Choreography. And knowing how to move with someone.

The first work of the director is to set a mood so that the actor's work can take place, so that the actor can create. And in order to do that, you have to communicate, communicate with the actors. And direction is about communication on all levels.

Directing is very close to choreography; you deal with space, time, emotions, lighting, making beautiful images.

I have a strong dance background. I danced from age five until 18, and that helps a lot. Doing a fight routine is like doing a dance routine.

I was a gymnast for many years before I was a dancer, so it comes in pretty handy when we do stunts.

Doing the sword fighting is like picking up a dance routine... I think dancing really helps with the picking up of it.

It's highly collaborative, musical theater, so everybody has got to somehow get along.

I have rhythm, but I'm not a trained dancer.

Timing is a big part of stunt work and fighting scenes. It's something you learn in WWE, especially when they are really character-driven fights.

I've been working a lot on my lateral movement, and angles - it's coming natural to me now - and on different techniques, keeping my hands right.

The importance of rehearsal is maybe you want to talk about how the scene's going to be designed, how it's going to be staged, all of those things. It's all about preparation, and deciding what mutually you don't want to do, rather than necessarily what you do.

Fight scenes are really more like dances than they are fights, because you're depending on your partner to do the right move at the right time. Yes, a tough person or somebody who knows what they're doing will look better in a fight scene, but it also has a lot to do with the other person.

One rule which applies to every role is that you have to surrender yourself to the director with an empty slate.

It's my goal to help actors achieve their best work, and I think I speak the same language as actors, so I understand how they do it, and I just love being able to create the playground in which they build their beautiful sandcastle.

A lot of heroines ask me to make the dance steps easier.

Partner dancing is a cultured act.

For me, rehearsal is only about blocking and pacing; it's not about performance.

I'll be honest: I'm not really the best at dancing.

I've always enjoyed dancing, and I train myself in it. I try to hone my skills whenever I get the chance.

I am completely a director's actor. If the director gives me the liberty and freedom, then I give my inputs. Otherwise, I just follow instructions.

Any skill requires training. I took the corporate approach to acting and wanted to develop the necessary skills.