Paula Malcomson Quotes

For me, the most important thing is the writing - and certainly the director. But if the writing isn't there, it doesn't matter who the director is!

I think the atmosphere on set really comes from the material, but also the director.

Great actors are so easy to direct. It's like they're big 747s that you just have to move left and right, and I don't really need to direct. I need to put them in the right costume, with the right haircut, in the right location, and with the right actor to act with. And then my job is almost done, with a great script, obviously.

Casting a film, you can have the greatest actors in a film and it doesn't work. It's a combination of all of the elements.

Haseeb Hassan is a fantastic director. He really understands characters and their relationships. He always gives sound advice and direction.

Actors have to learn that they are as important to a movie as the camera is, as important as the sound is, and less important than the script is.

Directing is a tremendous art.

All you ever really want is a great character and great writing. As an actor, that's the juiciest sandwich you could ever ask for.

Every actor just wants good writing.

I did a lot of theater, so especially as an on-camera camera actor, there are so many things that aren't in your toolbox. They're somebody else's job. You think about editors and rhythm. Volume isn't even in your control.

If there's a good screenplay, there's a chance that something good is going to happen. If you don't have a brilliant screenplay, then you either have amazing actors who give you the chance to improve whatever is on the page, or an interesting director who has enough faith in the project that they can carry it through and get it somewhere.

When you see something that is well-written, the actors can get behind it.

I really think the key to a film is the chemistry of people.

To be a great actor you just need to comprehend, so that's why I became a writer.

Being a director is almost like being another sort of character, but you're out of view.

A script is only as good as the director who's making it.

In every movie I do have a dialogue.

My job is to tell a story, and the decisions about the casting have to be honest.

The way we tell our stories on stage is that we use spoken word to convey action, and in movies, we use visual images to convey action.

When I'm shooting, I don't care who the star is. I have an actor playing a part, and I'm serving the script, not serving anyone's career.

Actors want to act. I think a lot of times what happens is that they're expected to bring it all. Probably because I'm a writer, I'm not telling them what to do. I just provide them with as much as I can.

I'll say it, I love working with actors, I'm a fan of actors. They bring so much, and they can also break a movie, but when it works I give it all to the actors. I'll say it, I think that 'The Transporter' is great not because of my direction, it really is great because Jason Statham was great in it.

I really think that as good of a job as you do as a writer, you're absolutely indebted to the actors that have to deliver that material.

When you're a director, you really live whatever you do.

There are three things that are important for a film. Number one is story, number two is story, number three is story. Good actors can save a bad script and make it bearable, but good actors can't make a bad script good - they can just make it bearable.