Denis Leary Quotes

I think I'm drawn to films more as a director with a directorial mind even as an actor. I make movies to make the films, not to act.

Directing was easy for me because I was a writer director and did all my directing when I wrote the screenplay.

For me, it's always filmmaker and then character and then story. They're all equally important but if you don't have a great filmmaker, you will not have a great film unless you just get lucky.

I'm looking for challenges, and as always, what matters is the script, the character and the director.

Always when you are doing films, the themes swallow you in one way or another.

One day I had an idea for a movie. Everything came after that.

The reward is that you can actually create a world separate from reality with a story, actors, music, and camera design. When it works it can entertain, move people and teach us all.

There's got to be something you want to tell and that's the engine which spurs all of the work you have to do in order to create the story, but you have to love some sort of nugget of what you're telling to be a filmmaker.

My favorite part of the whole filmmaking process is working with a fantastic cinematographer, a fantastic actor or actors, and then just creating emotions and stories. I get so excited by that. That's the part I'm utterly addicted to.

I know very few people who have literally improvised a film from start to finish.

I would consider doing any part as long as the script is good and the film has an interesting director.

I have definitely been curious and involved in the process; even as a young actor. I was always looking at where the camera was, what story it was telling. And as my experience grew, I wanted to know even more.

A script is a unique literary form, because it's not the end product; it's a blueprint. If you're not thinking of that end product, there's going to be a disconnect.

I started out my career as a screenwriter and quickly discovered that adhering to a script isn't always the best way to make a film. You have to take into consideration the nuances of the characters and what the actors bring to their roles.

No other aspect of filmmaking has tempted me to do a film other than the script and the story itself.

You may not quite understand the cinematic tricks that go behind the making of a film, but as long as you feel it, I think that's the important thing.

As much as my primary vocation is that of an actor, if anything, I feel like I am more excited about filmmaking in general, so it's not always a specific role that I'm attracted to, but rather an entire piece that I want to be a part of.

I love the process of working with a filmmaker and the writers and the actors.

I don't use film in the way that the great auteurs do. I use film, the camera, to record as effectively and as perceptive as I am able what I want to say through the actors.

What I realized is that it doesn't matter how big or small your film is. The actual filmmaking process, the actual storytelling, it's still the same thing. It's still all about creating characters that you like and creating moments that get you excited or get you tense.

I actually think storyboards are great. I don't draw well enough to do them myself. I've only used storyboards a couple of times. We used two storyboards in 'Margaret': one for the bus accident and for the opera sequence at the end.

My ambition in life is to be associated with a good film. And I feel that a writer has a more important role to play for the society than an actor.

I recommend to any of you, that's always a good way to make a film: use the interesting bits.

'Just' writing is every bit as important as any other creative part of a film.

I always feel like a script is a recipe, and then you bring the elements into the recipe, and you cook with it.