Quotes About Inspiration

I grew up not reading fiction; I watched movies and read comic books, and one of the ways I taught myself to think about narrative was through film.

My father is an actor, and I used to go on set to visit him. I saw the stories he was telling and said: 'That's what I want to do.' I was always in awe whenever I went to the movies or when I watched television.

I've known I wanted to do this ever since I was four years old and watched 'Star Search' for the first time. I mean, Harrison Ford in 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark?' My hero.

You would never argue about a straight girl playing a lesbian. Everybody still watched 'The L Word.' I feel like we have such great role models, like Jane Lynch and Jodie Foster and all these people that you don't even think about.

I've been watching Michael J. Fox since I was a toddler, basically. I watched all the 'Back to the Future' movies! I've been a fan my whole life.

I watched my parents go from having very basic jobs to educating themselves, to buying a house. They set a really good bar for what they wanted their kids to achieve.

My older brother always tells me I changed as a person when I saw 'Ace Ventura.' Because when I saw 'Ace Ventura', I became obsessed. I watched the movie as many times as I had to - back then, you couldn't go on the Internet and find the script - so I watched it as many times as I could to write my own script of 'Ace Ventura.'

I lost my innocence with Johnny Cash. I used to watch the 'Johnny Cash Show' on television in Wangaratta when I was about 9 or 10 years old. At that stage I had really no idea about rock n' roll. I watched him, and from that point I saw that music could be an evil thing - a beautiful, evil thing.

Creating emotion was what my career was all about. I wanted people to laugh at me; I wanted people to cry with me. I wanted people to feel good or to think about something when they watched me. I think that's why, even not being an Olympic champion, I have such a huge following around the world.

I'm always drawn to strong female leads, so that's what drew me to 'Lost Girl.' I was a 'Buffy' fan and watched it with friends every week. I was also a big fan of 'Alias' when that was on - they both had strong female leads, and that's what draws me in the most.

Working with Angela Bassett is by far the best. I've watched and admired her for years. I'm very intrigued by her work. She's so cool. I still call her 'Mom' when I see her.

When someone tells me about Malala, the girl who was shot by the Taliban - that's my definition for her - I don't think she's me. Now I don't even feel as if I was shot. Even my life in Swat feels like a part of history or a movie I watched. Things change. God has given us a brain and a heart which tell us how to live.

I watched Ali, studied Ali, and I studied Sugar Ray Robinson. I watched them display showmanship. I watched them use pizzazz, personality, and charisma. I took things from them and borrowed things from them because boxing is entertainment.

I would spend hours absorbing every intonation, every inflection - how the singer would convey a sentiment and how it would sound coming out of their head. All of those things I very carefully watched and absorbed, and so I guess I was studying my whole life, although not in any sort of conventional way.

I watched my parents in their leadership callings in the Church and the community. We just grew up knowing that we should serve and do whatever we could do to make things grow.

I used to follow celebrities, and I remember I watched Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt shooting for 'Sadak'. I was standing on the road at three in the night, but little did I know that I would be making a film with Sanjay at some point in my career.

I was raised in Kenya, and I always wanted to be an actor from when I was really, really little, but the first time I thought it was something that I could make a career of was when I watched 'The Color Purple.' I think I was nine, maybe, and I saw people that looked like me - Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah.

I watched Muhammad Ali, how when he would speak, how it was such a thing of beauty. It sounded so wonderful. And I wanted to be like him.

I watched my daddy play that guitar, and whenever I could, I would pick it up and strum on it.

I watched '12 Angry Men' when I was a kid. It blew me away definitely.

My dad was a big runner. Growing up, I watched him do half marathons, and he was always running six or seven miles.

'The State' was a huge thing for me. I watched that and 'SNL' together when I was 15, 16.

Michael Landon was the biggest influence. As a child, I watched him write, direct, star, and produce a TV show every week. He showed me what was possible.

I've watched 'Ringu' probably three or four times before writing the first draft of 'The Ring.' And then I'd seen 'Ringu 2' I think once.