Quotes from Lauren Shuler Donner

You have to have somebody to root for. I truly believe that's how you ground a movie. You ground them in the characters.

I feel fortunate every day I'm in this business. No matter how hard it is, no matter how ruthless some people are, I was born to do this; I was born for movies.

I've been looking for an opportunity to break into the Chinese market due to its devoted and passionate audience and have found the perfect partner in Cristal Pictures.

I was attracted to the comics because of the characters and, particularly, Wolverine because he is so complex. He is so damaged and tragic in many ways - he doesn't have his memory. His body was invaded. He has unrequited love for Jean Grey.

The first two actors we cast were Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. Because we started so highbrow, we were able to get anyone. Plus, some of these people have children, and their kids love 'X-Men.' They'll do it because of them - that's our little extra ace in the hole.

I love to say that what's great about 'Legion' is that if you haven't read a comic book and you haven't seen an 'X-Men' movie, you can come in and understand it - and this can be your comic.

People would congratulate Dick for my movies. It bothered me for a long, long time.

The accomplishment that I am most proud of is that 'Free Willy' and 'Dave' got a political message out, which isn't easy to do within the constraints of studio moviemaking.

Almost everyone I know is battling something, whether it's allergies or depression. Whatever it is, it makes you feel less than who you are. I believe part of life's challenge is to work through that.

The first movie I produced was a movie that Joel Schumacher wrote and directed called 'Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill.'

I like having an idea, or hearing an idea, and getting it into a proper script.

My mandate to myself since I've been involved in these movies was 'make every single movie different, so there's never 'X-Men' fatigue.'

The thing about Texas is that it's a little larger than life.

I personally have close ties to Marvel because of Kevin Feige, because Kevin worked for me.

I would say that the first 'X-Men' was the hardest. It took us a long time to get it going.

In the past, I've been a workaholic. I'm trying not to be anymore.

The thematic core of 'X-Men' is tolerance. It's that for those of us who are different in any way - in a big way, whether it's you're a minority, you're a woman, you're a Muslim, you are suppressed or marginalized - it can go the whole spectrum - but even if you are shy or you feel like an outsider - and X-Men are outsiders.

When I first set out to make movies, that's what I thought I was going to do - make movies that mean something. And each movie had its own message, some stronger than others. Even 'X-Men' has its own message of tolerance.

Don't take rejection personally.

I didn't tell anyone I had lupus for many, many years, and I didn't tell anyone I had cancer. I was afraid no one would hire me, and I also felt it was deeply personal. It was nobody's business. Now, of course, my feelings have changed.

The first writer I developed a script with was John Hughes, and that was 'Mr. Mom.' That was my first feature film.

The cinematic universe will not worry about 'Legion.' They will not worry about these TV worlds at all.

It was a fear we had when we started 'Legion,' that there were too many comic-book series out there, and how do you stand out. Our mandate always is to make something different in feel and tone. You try to avoid someone thinking, 'Gee, I've seen this before.'

When I was in my 20s, I was always sick. I was always feeling exhausted.