Alfonso Cuaron Quotes

I feel I should defer to the writers and the directors because they're the ones who have the complete vision. They see things through from the beginning to the end. I'm responsible for one small part, so my scope is much more limited than theirs.

If I get a note on my script or my films, what I say to a studio executive is that, 'You know, this is the film of my legacy, and I never want to be sitting in a theater looking up on the screen and seeing something that I don't believe in.' I will never do that.

I think there's a tendency with actor/directors to imagine themselves playing every part and trying to get people to follow their rhythm, their tempo, their pace. I've learned now to just love being at the center of this creative swirl.

My approach to working in movies is to empower the director to have power over me and to really support his vision because he's the guy, at the end of the day, who's going to put it all together.

There is a director for a reason, because a director knows what's best for the movie. You just give your director as much as you can to work with, and hopefully, the decisions they make are going to be great.

In TV, when you come in to direct an episode, you are effectively learning an established language; you then have to try to learn to speak it really well. But on a movie, you are the guy. You are creating the language; you make most of the decisions.

An actor can come in with a specific energy and get it on film over several days or weeks, but as the producer, I'm responsible for the overall trajectory of the project.

I've heard directing talked about as being a benign dictatorship, and I think that's probably the best way a director should be. They're open to collaboration and feedback from people, but ultimately, it's got to be that one person's vision. That's what I think makes a film really stand out.

A director must be patient and unflappable. I think I was always pretty relaxed. I don't find shooting as traumatic as some directors do. Some hate it. But you also have to be strong-willed and persistent enough to get what you want.

Directors are the fulcrum of the movie. They guide us well, not merely rein actors in. Whenever we stray, they bring us back on track.

You understand what good directing is, you can identify it pretty easily.

Some actors really like to do only a few, some like Casey [Affleck] will do as many takes as there is electrical power. At some point, you'll say, "Listen, I think it's really good." And he'll say, "You sure? You sure? There's not some other way we should try it?"

Even if I loved the script, the director has to be right because it's all about the filmmaker. It's their vision. They're the ones that go back into the editing room and reassemble the film.

As a director, you have to go in with a really, really, really clear picture of what you want. That's the point of my commentaries. It's so difficult because you're the harshest critic.

I've always just shown up to set and said the lines, [but] I want to help develop scripts and help cast and help bring a visual tone to something.

He [Oliver Stone] is great. I really like working with directors who know what they want and aren't afraid to tell you, "Do it like this. Don't do it like that."

In Hitchcock's movies you can see the storyboards and that's cool. It's nice to see a filmmaker be that prepared. Most filmmakers today have their heads up their ass, they're not nearly that prepared. He obviously had a right to say this is what I want and this is how we're doing it, because he was ready. Some filmmakers show up on the set and they don't know what they're doing. So then everyone has ideas and that makes a bad situation too. Be a director who's completely in control and yet no one knows it.

I would love to try my hand at directing and even producing in some kind of way. Something about that intrigues me, but for directing I could completely see myself trying.

Adrienne [ Shelly] had 100 per cent control over this movie [ Waitress] as a director. She didn't just write it, direct it and act in it, she was the creative force behind everything, from the jokes down to the expressions.

Ultimately, the people [who] are going to help you make your film are the people who believe in you and believe in the story. And as long as you stick to your guns, hopefully what you come out with will be what you imagined.

(When asked what a director does) I help.

We've always been trying to climb this ladder that leans so hard on our own idea of what our big songs are. We realized recently that we're not a band with big songs.

Because Guillermo's [del Toro] obviously a painter painting a picture and my job is just to provide the color that he probably already has in his mind.

That is a big turn-on for me, a director who knows what he's doing and what he wants, and knows when he's gotten what he wants.

If I were to direct an episode, then there would be no one for me to blame, and that's not any fun. It's more about sitting in the back seat and trying to drive.