Lauren Bacall Quotes

It's so hard to find a director who, when you look at their body of work, you like everything.

I love working with directors who have good taste. It's incredible when a director can say something and things open up for you. I went to The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and some of my best experiences on sets have been working with other alums.

To be honest, the real reason I did 'Drive' was because of Nicolas Winding Refn, the director.

I love David Fincher - even though it was just two scenes, I loved the way we worked and could tell by the way he was shooting it that this was going to be an affective movie to say the least.

So yeah, a good director will be able to listen and hear everything, but have a confident vision of his own that he can say, 'oh yeah - that's a great point.' And you never know; often you can help far more than you think you can, because there's so much more that he's juggling than an actor.

All directors have their strengths and weaknesses, as all actors have, and all artists. What you try to do is complete the relationship and take care of the stuff that the director won't take care of.

I loved working with Peter Weir. I think he's one of the greats and will be remembered as one of the greats.

I think it's rare for anyone that a really accomplished, amazing director calls you up and says, 'I want to make a movie around you, and I want it to be this.'

I have always believed that when a film is being made, it has to be the director's vision.

But I would love to work with David Lynch, if I could. He's my hero.

Film becomes a living organism. After awhile, it begins to tell you what it needs, and you're usually best listening.

A director like Ram Gopal Varma brings out a different dimension in your performance.

If I could make every movie with Richard Linklater, I would.

I let my people know that I'd love to work with Ryan Coogler one day because I thought he's just one of those truly auteur directors of our time. And I was just like, 'I want to work with a guy like that.' I think he has such a great understanding and distinct voice of his own.

I think people think of auteurs as being a dictator shouting over everyone about his vision. That's not the way I think of auteurs or the way I work.

I get along really well with Lars [von Trier] but definitely during our first meetings I was feeling him out and he definitely says some things that are inappropriate and then you kind of get his sense of humour. I really enjoy him. He's one of my favourite people I've met now. So, he's pretty great.

For any actor to have Oliver Stone call him or her up… It’s a compliment. He expects you to be on your toes. If you’re not, he pokes at you until you react. He’s very provocative, creatively. It started like a lot of hard work, but it ended up a lot of fun.

With a film you go with the script that's already written. And I've never thought of a project, a film that would come from my own desire. I don't think I can do it. I need someone else's desire to be able to do something. With a record, it is completely different, it's a collaboration with another artist, but I'm willing to go into intimate places with no masks on.

Alejandro Amenábar has a unique way of approaching movies and thinking about something which was new to me. It was different. I have a lot of respect for him so I just took a gamble.

It was a great circumstance when I received the script of [Chloe] and Atom [Egoyan] said he wanted me to do it. I was inclined to say 'yes' immediately.

When you're actually making a film, it's just people on your back all the time wanting stuff and you're constantly having to it deal with them. It's probably the most time consuming of all the arts, but I do love it because it is a great mix of visual art and music and writing.

If someone were to hire me for a film they'd be getting a certain kind of package, that's for sure, a certain set of tools. But I would listen to the director.

I get really excited about collaborating because by the end of the day you have something that you never thought you'd have. I was really happy about writing "Bad News" and a bunch of other stuff on the record that came out so well.

If people enjoy the film, it can be really intriguing to see what created that film, how each one of those unique components came together, who the people are who did it and what it meant to them to do it.

I hope we [with Patrick Leonard] can come up with something orchestral with some spoken material. And I also, God willing, hope that perhaps another record of songs also might emerge, but one never knows.