Actor Choice Quotes

I have a very simple philosophy when it comes to casting, and it really is casting the best person for the role.

When it comes to casting for movies, it is a priority that you cast right. The guiding principle must be what is right for the movie, that is the basis you cast someone, not because so-and-so is a friend.

I think filmmakers are always interested in getting the best actor that they can find, the person who's the most right for it.

My model for Kirk was Horatio Hornblower from the C.S. Forester sea stories. Shatner was open-minded about science fiction and a marvelous choice.

If a movie requires the lead actor to spend a good chunk of his onscreen time talking to himself, and Popeye is unavailable because of contractual disputes, it's hard to do better than Johnny Depp.

A very high bar has been set with Robert Downey in 'Iron Man.' That idea was, find the best actor for the part, regardless of whether they've been in a movie like this before.

When we went to Judy Davis and said, 'We want you to play Judy Garland in the mini-series 'Life With Judy Garland,' she was shocked, but we just had an instinct about her.

I wrote 'Mud' for Matthew McConaughey and had never met him.

Alan Moore's first choice to be the Comedian... was Burt Reynolds. But I never saw myself as Burt Reynolds; I saw myself as Edward Blake.

I always came away thinking "I'd like to see her more," you know? And then when [Parental Guidance] was ready to be cast, we thought - Bette [Midler]. So we called her.

In cinema, I would not really rate my costar and I would not pick a project because of the costar. I would pick a project because of the director. And the script.

Good directing is good writing and good casting.

I was expecting someone dark to play 'Dexter' - someone like Johnny Depp.

I believe the important part of directing really is finding the right people for the right roles. Sometimes you go for what's expected, and sometimes you go against type because you think that'll really bring something different to the movie.

I'm very interested in Ben Affleck as Batman. I actually think he's a great choice.

I think Eric Bana would be a good Superman. He's got that look. I think he'd be a great Superman.

Whoever portrays me on screen need not necessarily be a look alike. Any hero could play my part.

When I say 'yes' to a movie it's usually because, to a greater or lesser extent, it's because I'm enthusiastic about the character. How well that character ultimately comes off depends on a lot of things: your relationship with the director and so on. But at first, you're on board because you think you can do something with it.

In a film like 'Kannathil Muthamittal,' I can't have a Rajnikanth or a Kamal Haasan. If you have a star, the expectation of the film is different. So, you cast according to the subject of the film. Some films are best done with stars because it gives you a base on which if you can get the correct performance, you can reach higher.

I got a phone call from Jon Favreau saying, 'I need the voice of a personality-less robot, and I thought of you immediately.' I thought that was the funniest thing I ever heard, so I said, 'Yes.'

For us, performance is everything. If we can get great actors in there who like us, and we really like, we feel pretty confident that we can make a movie work.

I think Michael Crawford realised, I think we all realised, once we'd gone the route of casting a very young girl, you can't really cast a 65 year old man opposite. Slightly different resonance I think. No, we weren't going to go there. We'd have Jack Nicholson in the lead.

Casting is a big deal.

Matching character and actor is what a good director does.

As a complete score, I love 'Sherlock Holmes' - but we cast it badly. We put Ron Moody into the part - a great Fagin, not a great Sherlock Holmes.