Ivan Reitman Quotes

'Star Trek' was always a little bit closed emotionally. I never connected to the characters.

I've always believed in populating my films with characters who we like, who we have some warmth for, who have warmth for each other, who we would like to hang out with, who we emulate in one way or another.

In terms of the characters, I definitely do look for somebody that I think people can learn from and I can learn from too. In one way or another, by the fact that they are a role or by that fact that they aren't a role model. I feel like I was attracted to the past few characters that I've played, because they have an element that really touched my heart.

I believe in characters that can be tangible, and that you can actually relate to.

I'm just looking for touching characters.

You treat characters like people you meet in life-friends or mentors.

I don't like the idea the viewer can kind of sit there and go, 'Make me like this person.' People aren't inherently sympathetic.

I do feel more towards certain characters who have depth and intelligence.

In 'The Prophet' I really fell in love with those characters, there was an emotional connection there that I don't think I've had in a while. It made me think it would be nice to stick with the characters for a little bit and see what happens.

You need the audience to become invested in the characters and in order to become invested, they need to identify with the characters... and that's why the characters need to be real.

I am most proud of the development of the characters as personalities that game players could relate to and care about.

A lot of entertainment, and especially in a half-hour format, can be all jokes, all the time. And some of those jokes can be really, really funny, but what I respond to, as a viewers, is identification or caring about the characters.

The real trick to these movies and making the big action sequences work - and I've forgotten this sometimes and screwed it up - the characters really have to be humanized. Because you can have the greatest special effects in the world, but if you don't care about the people in those effects, there's no impact.

I think, ultimately, if you create characters that people like and can relate to, your characters are grounded on a human level even if your cars are not.

I had a strong visceral reaction to the 'Moonlight' script, partly because I felt I knew all of these characters.

I've never been interested in watching or reading anything because it's the hero's story. I don't feel the need to be inspired by the character or learn a lesson. I feel the need to be engaged by them.

If I can get the audience to connect with the characters emotionally - and they love who they are, they love the larger-than-life situation that they're in, but most of all get the audience invested in the characters - then I always feel like I can sort of put them in the most outrageous circumstances, and the audience is okay to go with that.

I'm focused on finding characters I connect to.

I'm mostly interested in characters and how they manifest themselves in their relationships. I'm delighted that people relate to the characters in 'Bojack,' and hopefully they will too to the characters in 'Undone.' If they understand themselves or feel seen in a new way, I think that's a wonderful thing.

The only films that really matter to me are the ones where there are characters whose interactions are moving.

You play the honesty of the characters and show a side of them that people can relate to and want to get to know.

Whether it was 'Gangs Of Wasseypur' or whether it's 'LSTCK,' the characters are real, and when you see them on screen, you can identify with them.

If the human story in 'STM' is relatable, it will work.

What makes an audience watch something and care about the characters is the emotional life of the characters.

Humanity has this need to hear stories because they connect us with other people, they teach us about our own feelings. We feel less lonely when we see other people going through the same things, even if they're fictional characters.