David Henry Hwang Quotes

The actor is concerned with his own bit of it, but the director's somehow trying to work the whole thing into a much bigger picture. It's like conducting an orchestra.

Both mediums, theatre and film, have really interesting sides to it that I really like to explore.

I would love to direct one day. I value the relationship that I have with a director so much, and I would be really excited to be on the other end of that relationship.

I loved working with Stephen Frears. He's a really fantastic director. He knows what he wants and how to get it.

Every big-budget film is powered by a director's vision. I blindly follow the instructions of my director, believe in him, and deliver what he exactly wants from me.

I would say that the energy on set is always the energy of the director because he's the boss.

The director is the ultimate creative arbiter of what's going to happen. And as a director myself, you really appreciate collaborating with people who are trying to help you find what you need and what you want.

The best actors are always the ones who've directed as well, as they understand all the problems you face.

A screenplay is really an instruction manual, and it can be interpreted in any number of ways. The casting, the choice of location, the costumes and make-up, the actors' reading of a line or emphasis of a word, the choice of lens and the pace of the cutting - these are all part of the translation.

Yeah... I like films, I like movies, I like playing different characters and working with different actors and filming in different places. I like movies because it's kind of a combination of every art: it's like, it's picture, it's story, it's music, it's kind of like a clash and a collide of every art. It's really neat.

Having learnt my basics in theatre, I always feel film is a collaborative effort. If you do your part well and help the person in front of you in realising his or her potential, the film invariably comes out good.

The difference with doing a play is that you are in control. In film you are in the hands of the director and the editor and the producer.

Being on a Paul Thomas Anderson film, the best decision an actor can make is to listen to Paul Thomas Anderson. Because he's probably not going to steer anyone in the wrong direction. I would always say go with your gut on any other movie set, but with Paul, I would say go with Paul's gut.

I thought that Hollywood was just for geniuses and that directors come from three generations of directors. I was worried that I was not up to the challenge of making a movie. Then realized that all a director has to do is know what he wants to do.

Film work can be very interesting, but it also can be awfully boring because who creates the film? The actors? No. It is the director. It's his piece of work.

An actor is only a part of the film, not the whole, and very often, he is moulded by the director. That is why a good director can make so much difference to a film.

I produce the way I would love to be produced: In ways to create the best conditions to make your movie, but also to create a space in which the director calls the shots.

I spent six years touring the world playing Shakespeare, Molire, Shaw, Goldsmith... But I slowly came to realise that the people you are working with are as important as the parts you play, and that there were lots of interesting people working in film and T.V.

A script is only as good as the director who's making it.

If I'm in theatre, cinema doesn't even cross my mind. Similarly when I'm making a film, theatre doesn't cross my mind.

I had thirty weeks of prep on 'Captain America.' I have a small team of qualified, supportive, creative producers who are actually helping me achieve my vision of the film. I had a dream cast headed by Chris Evans. I had the best designers, artists, sculptors, craftspeople.

I'd love to direct more.

Directing is a unique endeavor where you are in charge of so many people. As a writer, it is sort of the opposite.

I have no directing ambition whatsoever. And as long as I meet filmmakers like Tom Hooper, Stephen Frears, and others who allow that collaboration, I can't see why I would ever want to direct.

The thing I really love about film is there's a really big sense of teamwork, and everyone has to do their job to the best of their ability to make the film work in the first place.