Martin McDonagh Quotes

I've done a lot of period stuff but that's mostly because, in England, we get off on a lot of period stuff, but it's not any kind of particular choice. That's where a lot of the work is.

I was raised by muses. Women who had men in awe of them and who wrote them movies and wrote them music.

One of the things I've learned as a filmmaker is to have some aspect of the movie be something that I admire greatly, whether that's an actor I'm working with, the subject matter, or a book.

I'm influenced by a lot of filmmakers; I like English filmmakers because I feel a kin to them.

Some of these things I saw in foreign films - African films, Cuban films - long before I decided to really go on this course as an actor. I started to think about what values I saw in those films that I wanted to bring to my projects.

When I make films, I work with Mike Leigh, who's the most prolific director in England.

Usually, I think, every film I've made has been a book, and I've always read it.

I've always been a fan of science fiction films, and I've never been able to put my particular spin on it.

We were trained as writers with the idea that literature is something that can change reality, that it's not just a very sophisticated entertainment but a way to act.

Film is a tool of change.

When I was really young, I was obsessed with Bollywood. Then I got exposed to world cinema, and I wanted to be a part of it. Then I was exposed to theatre, and I only wanted to do theatre.

When Tupac came out, my writing changed for sure. I learned from it. It was a cultural thing.

I took inspiration from one of my favorite movies, 'The Last Dragon,' along with my own personal thoughts and ideas.

As a rule, Michael Balcon was at great pains to ensure Ealing remained very British. There was no point our trying to be MGM, and we didn't see a lot of American stars.

I really want to make something that makes people think. I love that movie 'Tiny Furniture' that Lena Dunham made. I just love that movie, and I laugh at that movie a lot, but I also felt a lot too. I'm just inspired by people like that.

There was also the myth of the western films. But my films are borrowed not from the story of the West in America but from the story of cinema.

Ironically, there isn't much comedy film in Britain, which is quite surprising seeing that we're quite good at it.

I'm somebody who is very, very proud to have been a part of the British film industry all my life and to have kind of been involved with a very important piece of British film history.

The British fans are liable to suddenly be talking to you about something that you don't know how you got into the conversation. I think it's something to do with the fact that they've been watching you for so many years sort of you telling your story.

I've never studied the Japanese. That's something that must have crept in there. But the Japanese are my biggest clients. They seem to like the elemental quality.

What makes Disney movies and Pixar movies always so good, hey take time and they're constantly honing, and tweaking, and rejiggering things, and taking influences from every cog, including myself, that can help. Any place where there can be inspiration. They make every moment very layered and very rich.

By nature, a storyteller is a plagiarist. Everything one comes across - each incident, book, novel, life episode, story, person, news clip - is a coffee bean that will be crushed, ground up, mixed with a touch of cardamom, sometimes a tiny pinch of salt, boiled thrice with sugar, and served as a piping-hot tale.

Minor artists borrow, great ones steal.

English, no longer an English language, now grows from many roots.

I have to say as an actor I have been inspired by so many British actors throughout the years.