Sidney Lumet Quotes

I get involved with projects based on three parameters - the script, the actors involved and the director.

I do movies I would go to see.

I think, like every actor, you've just to pick what you're interested in.

I'd jump to do a film with Aamir Khan. Aamir thinks through things before starting a project.

I don't make a conscious effort to choose any particular genre. If I like the script, I go ahead with the project.

I'd take Tom Hollander over Brad Pitt any day.

My pay packet is reasonable. But I prefer doing films where I have a meaty role. The set-up of the film and the filmmaker also matter to me. For me those are vital issues that help me decide on a film. You never sign a film only for money.

When you start out as an actor, you read a script thinking of it at its best. But that's not usually the case in general, and usually what you have to do is you have to read a script and think of it at its worst. You read it going, "OK, how bad could this be?" first and foremost. You cannot make a good film out of a bad script. You can make a bad film out of a good script, but you can't make a good film out of a bad script.

A lot of shows are more script-driven, like a prose script. As an actor, you never see a storyboard.

The actors make the film. They're the ones that take this theoretical movie that's in your head and make it real. The success of a film is entirely on their shoulders. I admire them, because acting is such a difficult thing to do, and I personally can't understand it.

There are so many scripts and they are fantastic. I think I would like to do something different, maybe something smaller.

I don't consciously seek out Australian projects. I put them on the same table as all the other scripts and I wouldn't ever do a film just because it's been shot at home.

I never had the slightest difficulty with a fellow actor. Not until One, Two, Three. In that picture, Horst Buchholz tried all sorts of scene-stealing didoes. I came close to knocking him on his ass.

I tend to look for a great script.

When I saw the script [of The Man], I saw the character and knew I could do the character. It's a relationship movie, which is also what I love to do. That's what attracts me to projects.

It'll take me a lot longer to read a script if there's no director attached.

Great writing attracts great actors. It attracts money. Without a great script, you have nothing.

I would love to be able to do a film. I would love to be able to focus on what excites me in watching actors.

I think one of the biggest things is the budget.For a studio, becomes a very big challenge to make sure that movie will work even better on every level. As an actor I don't think in those terms when I make a movie.

I've always wanted to work with Hugh [Grant] because I loved his movies.

Usually, those people don't even like actors and they can't wait until they get in the cutting room. They kind of break down in categories: directors who like to be surprised and some of them abhor being surprised. As far as directing, we all direct when we're acting in movies... every single one of us.

A film is the director's medium. The theater is an actor's.

It was a great circumstance when I received the script of [Chloe] and Atom [Egoyan] said he wanted me to do it. I was inclined to say 'yes' immediately.

In a movie, you need good actors, whereas in a book, you don't, unless you have a really bad imagination. In a book, your imagination will do the acting for you. Also, the process of revelation is often different. Tension is achieved in a different way.

If I'm directing actors, I learn about acting that way. If I'm acting, I learn about directing that way. Producing is just something that's come about because there's projects I find interesting that I would like to help get done.