Nicolas Cage Quotes

One of the things that I've been trying to do with my characters, one of the things that does lead to me turning things down, is I don't really want to repeat myself.

I think a badly crafted, great idea for a new film with a ton of spelling mistakes is just 100 times better than a well-crafted stale script.

We all know the dangers of sequels. Lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place too often, and I think you've got to move beyond it, go the extra mile and have the courage not to just repeat the first one.

The only reason I would write a sequel is if I were struck by an idea that I felt to be equal to the original. Too many sequels diminish the original.

It doesn't help anybody to put out a bad script.

There have been times - and not just on 'The Newsroom,' but on 'The West Wing,' 'Sports Night,' 'Studio 60'... - where it was hard to look the cast and crew in the eye, when I put a script on the table that I knew just wasn't good enough.

If I come on three days after the Super Bowl and say pretty much what everybody else has said, what's the point? That was the tricky thing... coming up with a new angle every time - or most times, because you couldn't bat a thousand.

I never make a distinction between doing a film in Hollywood or doing a film independently. It's just the story. It's always the story for me. The constants are that it should challenge me and I shouldn't repeat myself. And the story should always be a story worth telling.

Why tell a story that people have seen 900 times? That's not interesting artistically.

If I do a film, it should be worth it.

Sometimes you watch stuff and it's like, oh God - it's the obvious cliches of the genre. You've got to do better.

I'm kind of a perfectionist about my songwriting. If I don't mean it, I don't think it's any good.

If people respect us as artists, they know we'll give them something different every time; they know we're pushing ourselves.

I find the middle classes kind of boring. The middle class has kind of been beaten like a dead horse by fictional writers. It's old news, and literature is supposed to bring new news, and for me, I feel I have to go as far out as I can to try and tell the kind of stories I want to tell.

I think making a film that you think is good and you believe in is going to be difficult forever.

I never limit myself when it comes to telling stories; I think people can see that in my body of work. It's just about, 'What's a great story? Is it unique? Is it a challenge?'

Limited series ensure that we maintain the quality of the writing on the sets.

I always try that my next film is different than my last movie. I would like to surprise my audience; that, I think, is the job of an actor.

I accept offers only when people approach me with a good script, and all those experiences have been great.

I don't run after successful directors. I give importance to the content of the film.

I write the best book that I can write each time.

I can't do the terrible mistake of thinking audiences are dumb and will accept anything I do. I want to be cautious about my choices.

Student cartoonists as well as professionals should always be careful that they're not doing a cartoon that already has been done.

When you're trying to force things in a script, it seems like it's getting somewhere, but it isn't real or interesting. All the bad material you've written becomes an albatross around your neck. So I really don't like writing a lot of bad stuff, I prefer to just keep narrowing it down to stuff I think is solid.

I would love to take another stab at really smart, speculative sci-fi - my first was a bit of a stumble. I look forward to getting another chance.