Christopher Nolan Quotes

Collaboration is about listening to someone else and adding your own feelings about that thought.

I like it when an actor is secure enough to ask questions, and the director is secure enough not to be threatened by that.

I believe the better I can write on my own, the better I can be of service in a co-write. The big thing with a co-write is trust, and it's not so much what you get the first time you sit down with that writer. It's the relationship that you build that you're in. So you can trust throwing out all your ideas and how strong you think they might be.

On 'Vikings,' nobody's got an ego. Michael Hirst is just so open and so collaborative.

To get into another person's mindset and what they are trying to do with their project is a challenge, and it is what I like.

I just can't say enough about the actors having faith and trust in the writers and the writers having faith and trust in the actors.

When I give over to somebody's vision rather than have an idea of what I need to do, it takes me to places I wouldn't have got to by myself. I'm always attracted to a strong director.

The directors I respect are the ones who have a collaborative attitude, who collaborate with actors.

The environment in a writer's room, I've really come to feel, should be some form of democracy.

The best way to learn how to work with actors is to have had experience of trying to act yourself - it will teach you humility if nothing else.

The first work of the director is to set a mood so that the actor's work can take place, so that the actor can create. And in order to do that, you have to communicate, communicate with the actors. And direction is about communication on all levels.

I want to work with a director who becomes my brother, my father, for two months. You give yourself over to that person.

When you have somebody writing or acting for you, you have to be free to have them hate you so you can get your ideas across without worrying.

Every actor you work with has a different method, same with the director. You have to figure out what your shared language is and how to best support each other, and also take care of yourself.

We must lead, but we must listen.

When I work as an art director, I don't ask to see sketches from illustrators or photographers. I give them a basic idea, and then I say, 'Send it to me, it'll be fine' - I get out of the way.

When you work with someone you don't quite know, you have to figure the director out, and you can come up with ideas that are counter-productive.

When he would give you direction, it was not sitting in a chair saying, 'Hey, babe! Do this and that and the other thing.' Mr. Sirk would ask, 'May I speak with you?' and sit down and say, 'I think this should be done this way. And how do you feel about it? Do you feel it that way?'

I want to be around people that are just as enthusiastic about the process and storytelling as I am.

It's important that the actor doesn't feel like they're working in a vacuum. If the actor is told, 'Oh, it's a secret; just play it this way or that way,' it's a bit patronising. I think you have to bring the actor into your thinking and explain things.

The point is that filmmaking is a collaborative effort; it isn't about imposing your vision on other people. It's about the talking, you know?

Strong alliances can thrive even where disagreements exist, but they cannot thrive where free and open communication is shut down.

I like working with writer-directors because you can solve problems right there.

You should communicate with your other one. Understanding what they are on about is pretty key.

I'm proud of 'Sinister' because Scott and Cargill did a great job on the movie, and I set up a framework for them to make what they wanted to make. They gave me the idea, and I figured out how to get it out into the world.