Joe Morton Quotes

We've been working with the very best in the business. The studio really just let us alone to make the films.

Sometimes directors will hire you and say, 'Oh, we love your work.' And then they start to tell you how to do it. I say, 'Hey, man, back off. You hired me to do it. Let me do it.'

Before I do episodes of 'The Good Wife,' I talk to the director and say, 'I'm trusting you to let me know if it's too much! I won't be offended.' So I put myself in their hands, and most of the time they let me do my thing, but sometimes they'll say, 'Let's try this.'

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.

Good is the director who lets you do what you have to do.

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

I don't believe that directors need to essentially manipulate actors into doing things. You can suffer for your art, and you can make your own self suffer for your art. You don't need anyone else to do it for you. I work best when there's a safety trampoline of kindness.

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'm really lucky that my record companies have been patient with me and leave me alone and give me the time to make it right in my mind.

He just kind of talks them through, and then I get the fun part cause I get to make up the stories.

My approach with actors is to try and give them whatever it is they need from me. Direction to me is about listening and responding and realizing how much they need to know from me and how much they have figured out for themselves, really.

I enjoy directing more when I don't have to direct myself. I like when I can just be the director.

The best situation is where they cast you and then they trust you.

You don't even need the director's judgement. It's too much.

I love to be directed. They can trust me and go.

I used to be very controlling with visuals and editing, and I would pretty much craft the performances; now I have learned to trust the material and the actors.

I basically put myself into directors' hands and let them tell me what to do, and the more they told me what to do, the more I liked it.

I'm not the kind of director who imposes his processes on everybody else.

Netflix is amazing 'cause they trust the creator to do their job, and they trust us to do our job. They're really smart and just let us do our thing and deliver a great job.

One of the things I'm adamant about as a bandleader is not micromanaging. I'm an advocate for the concept of allowing everyone to be fully vested in what they're doing, so everyone contributes whatever they're inspired to contribute.

Why hire these geniuses if they're forced to stick with the script? You want to empower your actors as collaborators.

Director of any film is very important, and an actor has to leave himself in his hands to mould.

I wouldn't say I'm a very controlling person. For instance, when I talk to the actors, I don't tell them exactly what I want because I want them to surprise me. I even encourage them to change some of the verses of the script if they need to.

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.

The big difference between the radio show and the TV work is that I don't have to work by committee on the radio show. I'm the DJ; I can play what I want and suffer or get praised by that. With a TV show, it's much more of a collaboration, and the song that I might think is perfect may get shot down and vice versa.