David Thewlis Quotes

Nobody could dissapear to their trailer once it was up and running, you were all there on the same stage. It was 10 days of rehearsal and 10 days of shooting, which was very tiring.

When I work on a film, I always tend to relate to the crew.

I'd have to say the whole experience in making The Neverending Story. I had an incredible time.

Making 'Beloved' was an awesome experience.

So I've had really great assistant directors for my last seven movies.

I'm the kind of person who likes to create the environment and mindset - not because I do it deliberately, but because that's how I like to live - where, from catering to makeup to hair to wardrobe, electricians, camera department lighting, sound, you know, it's our movie; we're together, and we have that camaraderie and that closeness.

On 'Paranormal Activity,' it worked to my advantage not to have much of a crew, but on a bigger movie, where you have to work with a larger group of people who basically become your second family for a few months, it can be a great experience. Even though all of my projects are small scale compared to most Hollywood productions.

I love the industry that I'm in. I love what I do, and I've sort of grown from being an actor and being on set. I take it all in, and I talk to the grips and the Best Boys and talk to lighting guys. I talk to everybody and see what they do and pay close attention.

The best filmmakers have a very familial attitude in sort of embracing the set, beyond the cast, with the wardrobe, and the hair and makeup, and the props, just making everybody feel very familial.

Surviving the elements is working, but being on set and having to do a scene and being in a room with the same people who you actually enjoy and respect, your day project was easy.

A film just doesn't involve actors, a director and a producer, there is also the cameraman, the sound engineer, the music composer, the lyric writer. So many people come together to make a film. When we all feel satisfied with the film that we have created it's a win for all of us.

I know it sounds earnest, but I do really feel in my bones that acting is just a small part of the equation when you are making a movie. The director really is in charge. Actors are as important or unimportant as the rest of the people around them.

When you do movies, it's you have a 3-month family and then everybody goes away and then joins another family, you know?

And 'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll' was a very transitional film for me in that I was one of the producers and you know, came up with the idea with the writer and the producer, as well. But, it was a very collaborative event. You know, I really love working in that way.

A great movie evolves when everybody has the same vision in their heads.

On a film, you start to get closer and closer with the people you're working with, and it becomes like this circus act or this travelling family.

Everyone feels a sense of ownership in creating a Lynn Shelton movie. Lynn chooses amazing people - including the crew. Every person there is committed to making the film the best it can be.

And I think one way or another it's evident to those who work with me that as a writer, a director, a friend, as somebody's there that's very anxious to get the movie made.

Really top-notch directors, I've often worked with them just to see how they work.

When you act in a film, you're inevitably surrounded by people you didn't choose, right down to the set painter. I like being able to pick the family I'm waking up to in the morning that's going to make this group effort to tell a story that applies to what's interesting to me at that stage in my life.

Films are not mathematics - that's the first thing you need to understand. At least, that's how I feel. They are not words on paper. Films are made with people, with teams and with individual bundles of creativity coming together to fulfill the vision of an individual who is the director of the film.

A film takes a lot of time, and yet not enough to share with the people you're making the movie with, I think.

When I go on the set, I'm so rushed. When I see the actors at rehearsal, when I love it, I want to keep the mood - my mood and the actors' mood also. So I have to push the crew faster. I don't want to lose the mood.

Movies are weird; it's like trying to make a painting with one hundred people. It's a weird world, but every job is weird; it's always a little bit hard, crazy and fun, a nice combination.

We had a great time making 'Chennai Express.' It was a learning experience working with Shah Rukh... it was a positive experience.