Quotes About Gus Van Sant

Usually, when I read something, I'm looking for the story first. And then, when I re-read it, I check every part of it to see whether every scene is necessary. You imagine yourself watching the movie, to see whether or not you're losing the through-line of the story.

Aunque a veces mi flojera como alumno me provoca repentinos ataques de sueño. Esos ataques se llaman narcolepsia y los sufrió River Phoenix en aquella película de Gus Van Sant. Pero River Phoenix tenía a Keanu Reeves, o dicho de otra manera: Phoenix tenía dónde apoyar su cabeza dormida y yo solo puedo apoyarla en los libros.

There's a lot of films that have relatively rigid road maps because they have a script and others that are less rigid because they have less of a script, like 'Elephant.' The road map becomes more interpretive, maybe, than one with a detailed script. Editing-wise, they all have their problems.

I think one of my favorite directors is P.T. Anderson - living directors, I should say. And Spike Jonze is one of my favorites, Gus Van Sant.

The first time I went to Cannes, Gus Van Sant was there in competition with 'Last Days.'

Gus van Sant I met at the Berlin film festival, and he came up to me. He had a little film in the festival called 'Mala Noche' that he had made for $20,000. He said: 'You are one of my favourite actors. I'm doing 'My Own Private Idaho' with River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. You should be in it!' Then I started working with Gus.

Even when you're making a movie about life, death is a presence, and I guess it's part of my dramatic viewpoint. I'm not sure why exactly. Maybe I'm drawn to it as a story element.