Judd Nelson Quotes

I think the best directors provide you with a safe environment where they can instill you with confidence and allow you to try things out and not feel like you're failing or that you're doing it wrong.

Members of trusting teams admit weaknesses and mistakes, take risks in offering feedback and assistance, and focus time and energy on important issues, not politics.

You have to take away the idea that something you do is right or wrong. I don't think there's a right or a wrong; I think there's an "it works" or "it doesn't work" for the whole. And that's why you need a director you trust, so you can just keep throwing out suggestions.

The good thing about working alone is I get a lot done and I can experiment more. The bad thing is I miss out on the gregarious, social way that most musicians work.

It's interesting that instead of having to get tighter and more restricted for a collaboration, strangely enough, from the beginning, we've actually been more confident that we could handle this.

I just love to collaborate with people who take my ideas real serious, and they don't put up walls around them.

When you have somebody writing or acting for you, you have to be free to have them hate you so you can get your ideas across without worrying.

I always want to be a part of ensembles. Besides it feeling safer, I think it's a more fun environment to work in. To have a bunch of people collaborating on something, it takes the pressure off of each individual.

Without trust, the most essential element of innovation - conflict - becomes impossible.

I like hearing from everybody and not just my co-screenwriters or producers. For example, while on set, I find it valuable to turn to my PA and ask, 'What do you think? Is this scene working? Do you like what you see? You got any ideas for that line there because that idea isn't working for me.'

I think even if you're on a screen or you're in a play, it's always a group effort. It's not just the actors, it's the editor.

Working with Jim Sheridan for instance, we did this movie Brothers. Jim will ask anybody - we'll get a delivery on set, and like the poor delivery guy will be like, "Here's your pizza," and he'll be like, "Come over here. Come here. I want to ask you a question. Do you think this is real? What do you think? Should we do another take?" And they're like, "I, uh, you want your pizza?" There's no shame in everybody's ideas. There's no shame in somebody not knowing.

I personally think if you're given four months instead of four weeks on a play, with the people who want to work that way, the play will invariably be different and stronger, and much more fulfilling and richer on all counts. There's no doubt in my mind about it.

I like relaxed sets. I like to feel that I can make a mistake without feeling like I'm costing somebody money. I like a sense of freedom. I like it when people are open and are willing to let you do your work.

I like a set to be a happy place, where people can feel free to experiment.

It's a lot of fun to be a part of films that you don't exactly know how they're going to turn out.

I think one of the coolest things about the job is the level of trust we have for each other. The actors fully trust that the writers will write amazing episodes, and the writers trust that the actors will follow their instincts with the characters.

What I generally tell a class is that if you're not interested in anybody else's work but your own, take another class.

When actors are comfortable enough, and you release all your inhibitions, and you stop judging yourself, you're suddenly so supportive that it's this wonderful team cheering each other on.

I usually tell people upfront what to expect, and that I really want their feedback and their ideas, and if they think I've got a hair out of place or food stuck in my teeth, gosh, I want to know that.

I'm one of those actors who is going to come in with 2,500 ideas. You can shoot down 2,499, but one of them you're going to like.

I think it's important to create an atmosphere where actors feel like they can try things out. It doesn't mean that I'll take every suggestion, but I want there to be some room for actors to grow.

Netflix is amazing 'cause they trust the creator to do their job, and they trust us to do our job. They're really smart and just let us do our thing and deliver a great job.

One of the things I'm adamant about as a bandleader is not micromanaging. I'm an advocate for the concept of allowing everyone to be fully vested in what they're doing, so everyone contributes whatever they're inspired to contribute.

What keeps you confident in a healthy way is knowing that everyone else around you is going to support you and teach you and you're going to learn from them. I just feel open to learning from people.