Ellen Burstyn Quotes

As a director, you never get to watch other directors work, and you also don't get to collaborate with other directors that much.

It's great to work with people who are jobbing actors at different stages of their career, and learning from them, and getting over being star-struck by somebody like Ian McKellen because he has such a long prestigious history in the business, but then seeing how he works on the camera; you never stop learning.

I was fortunate enough to work under directors who were, most of them, brilliant, emotional men.

I believe that independent film making is the last frontier of creative expression available. So I'm always willing to lend a helping hand to a young film maker who's just getting into the business.

I feel very protective of younger actresses, because it was so hard for me in the business.

New directors are safe. They tell you the full story and since they are new, they try to put their heart and soul into the project.

I am blessed to have got a chance to work with directors like Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, and Nikhil Advani at such an early age.

A lot of new American directors have had mentors who have given them advice. And some of them have had the way paved for them by huge Hollywood directors who saw a younger version of themselves.

When I came to Hollywood, I would take the opportunity to get to know George Stevens or Willy Wyler or Billy Wilder or Freddie Zinnemann. David Lean I got to know, of course, in London. And David Selznick and Darryl Zanuck, not to mention Jack Warner, and Sam Goldwyn was actually very, very nice to me.

I can't think of a lot of bad directors I've worked with, really.

I have got good films, and I am thankful to Aditya Chopra. He put a lot of faith in me.

There are so many young women in film school right now, and it's just about foreign sales companies, domestic sales companies agreeing to finance films directed by and starring women.

I'll put it this way: with the kind of films that I do - creatively driven, with interesting directors and writers - I don't feel the need to work with the super established, top-tier directors that are out there.

Ryan Murphy's a brilliant director to work with who's very fun and creative.

I've worked alongside some very good directors and some not so good.

I selfishly like a lot of first-time directors because they over-prepare, they're super eager, and there's very little ego.

I would love to just keep working with really great directors who really inspire me.

The energy of first-time directors is tremendous. They work beyond the limits for a hit in this competitive industry.

The '90s weren't my finest years artistically. I wrote some good songs in there, but in terms of my vision of getting the paint on the canvas, that was not my best time. I didn't like the fact that I had fallen into mediocrity.

I think whether you're old or young, we're all trying to do the same thing, and it's random who we click with. Ideally, you'd want to collaborate with a Christopher Nolan or somebody like that, starting out, and build those friendships.

I've talked about this a lot, but 'The Witch' took four years to finance because there were certain compromises I wouldn't make.

Working with Subhash Ghai is always a different experience. Subhashji is my mentor. I'm always glad to work with him.

I have to keep making films, getting better in my craft, and the way to do that is to work with people who know what they're doing and who can help me.

Jordan Vogt-Roberts directed me in 'Kings of Summer,' which was his debut feature. I got to witness the passion and hunger that first-time directors bring to projects, and ever since, then I've been very intrigued when I've come across a project with a less experienced director.

I've been able to work on shows with amazing role models, amazing actors, incredible female filmmakers.