Lenny Abrahamson Quotes

Well, obviously I was excited by the idea that Woody Allen was going to direct it. But at the same time, the script itself and the character was really interesting.

For a director, the most challenging scenes are the dialogue scenes.

I think when I was doing 'Amistad,' I was just too young to really understand what the process was, and beyond that, I hadn't really got involved. It was just somehow - and I thought that the artistry was all in the theater.

After directing movies, I respect any director in this world, because making a movie as a director is tons and tons of work.

The thing that really makes me happy is the real work and rehearsing and creating the character and the process of making the movie. Hollywood's not real.

It's such a pleasant surprise when you come on set and you find someone in charge like Ken Branagh or James Ivory. You know that you're going to do a day's work and at the end of it, it's going to be good.

On '50/50,' even though it was 8 million dollars, it was all acting-intensive.

In terms of directing a feature, I'd want the story to be right - you know, it's a year of your life, and you have to be focused on one thing, so I want it to be a story that I really, really care about and will enjoy making.

I did a film called 'The Escape Artist' for Francis Coppola. I had the title role.

'Son Chiriya' is a special film with lovely co-stars and a sorted out director.

I would love to work with the Coen brothers and Terrence Malick. I love both of their bodies of work so much, so I'm really interested in acting under their direction.

Maayanadhi' was a film I enjoyed working in.

I do want to direct a movie from horseback one day.

I am incapable of directing a film like 'Agneenath.' I can do only what I am good at, so I would have been the worst choice to direct it. It has aggression, action and an inherent violence in it - things I am not capable of directing in my films.

The great thing about having spent all this time on film sets is that I've been able to watch directors and how they work. I now know that this is what I want to do as well: to tell stories visually. But it's definitely my vision that I want to put across, nobody else's.

Making 'Coraline' was one of the great filmmaking experiences of my life.

Movie-making is serious business. The director and the crew are already under a lot of pressure to give their best to the audience. Therefore, the best part for me as an actor is to act well in the movies and make a jolly atmosphere with the co-stars on the sets.

When I was younger I didn't really know what a director did: I knew I loved movies and I figured the actors made it up! And then when you get to 12 years old you start thinking, What does a director do? It was really an organic beginning: this looks like something I want to do, I can't believe people get paid to do it!

Most screenplays depend primarily on the vision of a director.

When I was working on 'Men of Honor' with Robert De Niro, there's a pipe that he has in the movie, and it took us about six weeks to find the right pipe for him to use and feel comfortable with. It was a great choice, because it was really about what worked with the camera at that time.

I want to do films I can relate to emotionally.

I think I'm drawn to films more as a director with a directorial mind even as an actor. I make movies to make the films, not to act.

Film work can be very interesting, but it also can be awfully boring because who creates the film? The actors? No. It is the director. It's his piece of work.

I thought The Visitation was good fun. We did some of that filming at Ealing on the big set.

I'd say that the director I had most involvement with was Alex Rockwell in 'In the Soup'. It was one of my earliest leading roles, and he gave me a lot of responsibility as an actor.