Quotes About Directing

I didn't know that I could act, but my friend told me, 'Before you do directing, maybe you should try acting. It would be better for you. When you know how to act, it would help you be a better director.' So I was like, Oh, maybe, okay, maybe I'll try.

It was embarrassing to direct my friend Salman and tell it's not working at times.

The idea of directing my own movie is definitely more challenging than choreography.

I always just wanted to write and maybe direct. I'm really only interested in that. And yet the business that I'm in has forced me into being a salesman - that's the last thing that 17-year-old me would imagine I'd end up being. I'm uncomfortable trying to sell anything, but that's what you're doing every time you walk into a pitch.

Film directing is really undermined if you attempt to do it by committee because there has to be a single vision as to how to tell a story. It's like if you were at a campfire, and everyone is taking turns to give one sentence in telling a horror story. It would be a mess - it's not going to make sense.

Directing non-actors is difficult. Directing actors in a foreign language is even more difficult. Directing non-actors in a language that you yourself don't understand is the craziest thing you can possibly think of.

In my first film, we always tried to have a script and work in a normal way, but I was constantly changing things during shooting. Because I worked as a scriptwriter for 10 years, I understood that directors always wanted to change what was originally written, to improve on it.

It was great. I mean, it's a blast directing underwater stuff.

I've directed seven movies and know a thing or two about dealing with unexpected crises.

When Orson Welles was acting in 'Compulsion,' the director Richard Fleischer let him just take over and direct the courtroom scenes. To be able to see Welles - who knew more about directing than anyone - direct himself and the other actors, it was unbelievable and unforgettable.

There should be more women directing; I think there's just not the awareness that it's really possible.

I look at directing as a sporting event. It's a race, a marathon. It's great when it clicks, which is why I push my crews so hard so we can excel.

I had to ask myself if the reason I had never asked to direct before was because I really didn't want to, or because I didn't think I deserved a spot at the table.

I would say that maybe directors who act as well are easier with actors. I'm not saying that all directors have this, but sometimes you'll come across a director who sort of looks at an actor a bit like a kind of untrained horse that's been let out of the stable, like they might buck him.

I have a stack of scripts that I've read - I'm in the lucky position where I get offered things - but I haven't wanted to direct many of them.

For me, writing is a part of directing. It's the first stage of directing.

I love staging action and wide-shots, not necessarily going to close-ups.

I approach directing from an actor's standpoint.

I was a standup comedian, which is kind of like writing and directing yourself.

I don't see myself ever retiring, unless it's for something that I like better, and so far I like directing a lot but I don't see the necessity to retire from anything unless there's a really great alternative.

I love the experience of getting to direct because I can have all of the fun of helping shape the show, but I don't have to actually do it, so I don't have to deal with the nerves.

I don't get nervous when I'm directing a play. It's not like acting.

With directing, it's all out there, in the moment and in real-time. The pressure and all of the eyes are on you, and you've gotta do it. That is the place that made me nervous.

Right now, my focus is really acting and directing. But I see the creativity and the work that goes into building a network, and it's fascinating to me. If those doors open for me... I think just learning as much as I can at this point is really what it's about.