Philip Seymour Hoffman Quotes

Directing a movie precludes me from being involved in any greater way. But, the job was never to do more, it was always to enable. Sometimes as a producer, you're creating and writing it, or sometimes you're writing and directing it, or other times you're there from the very beginning.

I don't make movies because I love to act. I make movies because I like to make movies, and I like to be a part of that process.

I think what makes a good actor's director is the same thing that makes a good director. Acting is just one of the trades necessary to make a movie.

I love the process of working with a filmmaker and the writers and the actors.

As filmmakers, you're not working on just one project, you're producing something, directing something, shooting something, and so it becomes hard to do it by yourself.

It's true that I don't think I'd be a good director. If I were a director, I'd try to hire the best people I could and then leave them alone. I don't know much about cameras or lighting, so I'd make sure that I had a really good cameraman who understood lenses and lighting, and I say to him, "This is the scene we have to shoot and this is what I think it should be, you go do it." Same with actors. But really, very good directors who know everything do basically the same thing. They hire you and then they leave you alone.

I have a lot of appreciation for what people do in front of the camera as well as behind the camera. I don't think I could like one without the other. Eventually, I think the road will lead me down to producing or directing, because it's more about problem solving.

And 'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll' was a very transitional film for me in that I was one of the producers and you know, came up with the idea with the writer and the producer, as well. But, it was a very collaborative event. You know, I really love working in that way.

I'd love to direct, I'd love to produce. I'd love to learn all about it, and being around it all the time certainly helps.

I love actors. That's my bread and butter, and I got to work with some amazing ones on '12 Years'.

Really top-notch directors, I've often worked with them just to see how they work.

It's not just about acting. I love film, I'm a director now, I love writing, I love producing, I love having a company that makes films and to be prolific and have a place to put all the ideas that are constantly bubbling up inside of me and that don't let me sleep at night.

Producing is a world of compromise and actors are utterly spoiled all the time.

Films are not mathematics - that's the first thing you need to understand. At least, that's how I feel. They are not words on paper. Films are made with people, with teams and with individual bundles of creativity coming together to fulfill the vision of an individual who is the director of the film.

I spent a long time working in the movies to figure out that kind of acting and also how to write and produce for the screen.

Movies are weird; it's like trying to make a painting with one hundred people. It's a weird world, but every job is weird; it's always a little bit hard, crazy and fun, a nice combination.

Working with actors is something I've never done before. I find it tremendous. It's hard work.

To me the only real star of the movie is the writer. And I work with writers very closely, from outline to first draft and on to the seventh draft, whatever it takes. Then my job is to support the director to make the best movie we can. Some producers try to go past them, but my job is to support them.

I remember working on movies like Gettysburg and feeling that Jeff Daniels was kind of a mentor.

When you get to work with people like Ian McKellen or directors like Peter Jackson, you sit and watch.

As a director, I also get to sit and watch actors and learn from them in a way that I don't get to do when I'm just acting.

I've certainly worked with really great directors who haven't acted.

There are no great scripts - just great films.

As an actor, I love working with directors. As much as I love working with other actors.

When you're acting and directing, you're standing there acting with another actor, and you're trying to do your performance, and at the same time you're watching their performance, and making sure the lights are in the right place, and if the person is wearing the right wardrobe. All these things are going on in your head.