David Wain Quotes

In this business, it's important: if you consider yourself a journeyman actor like I do, you need to stay topical. So I'm always looking for projects that are challenging, that put me in a light that's different from anything I've ever done before.

There's nothing more tragic than artists from the 70s still doing art from the 70s.

But once you have some success in one style, the business wants to lock you in that vein forever.

In this business it takes time to be really good - and by that time, you're obsolete.

You can be forgotten very quickly. So I am aware that I need to stay current, keep connecting, and keep bringing things to the table... Otherwise, you can just disappear.

My career is chequered. Then I think I got pigeon-holed in humour; Shakespeare is not my thing.

The world is changing, and I believe that, if I want to stay employed as a programmer, I'm going to have to change with it.

I've been very lucky to work with a lot of amazingly supportive directors.

Every artist will one day face the moment when he or she is doing what he or she does after the style has passed and the art-world heat-seeking machine has moved on.

I found my sound early on. Look at U2: they haven't changed their music for 20 years. Anyway, many people come unstuck when they try to change what they do and what they are known for.

I'd like to extend my career a little bit into different genres.

I feel fortunate. I've really gotten to work with amazing talented people, and to learn from them, which is why I'm doing this. If I can work with the best director I'm going to do it.

it is hard to find new jokes. What I need is new audiences.

A performer learns with experience and with age. I did not know the future when I left home and started out to begin my career: I started qawaali; then I met Peter Gabriel and was exposed to a lot of new ideas.

I think that it's important that actors keep getting challenged every day. For every creative person, it's a terrible moment when they say they have done all they want to do.

I think I have grown impatient with just being a writer.

I really just want to work with good directors and learn as much as I possibly can.

You need to be very adaptable to have a long career. If you're not taught by somebody who knows different styles you'll be left by the wayside very quickly.

I hit the beauty jackpot, I get it, but that's not enough: you've got to have more to have longevity in this business. It's always been, 'OK, so what can I do now?'

Time moves too slowly for me to notice any evolution in my creative tendencies.

It's way more fun to tell jokes for an hour than it is to sit in a room and bash your head against the wall trying to think of sketches.

That's one of the problems in being a songwriter and living a long time. What you eventually end up doing is you start imitating yourself.

I am indeed fortunate to work with some reputed directors like Balaji Sakthivel, Sekhar Kammula, and KV Anand sir. Each one of them has a different style, and every day is a learning experience for me.

Some people end up becoming just a conservator of the one thing they did and making sure they get their merch out and all that.

Everything in comedy's got to be exactly right, which is why making a comedic film is kind of a difficult process, because, for most of the two years of shooting it and editing it and reshooting and all of that, it's not quite right. And it's only when you just at the end, you put the final polish on it, it becomes really funny again.