Top 100 Judd Apatow Quotes
#1. Sometimes, something seems dead, and then out of the blue, someone just figures out the way to fix a script and it goes.
Judd Apatow
#2. One of my fears is that I'm suddenly not going to be funny, but still think I am. That's like my nightmare that I can wake up in a cold sweat from.
Judd Apatow
#3. There are only so many hilarious actors so when they cross-pollinate, people assume it's always the same actors and directors.
Judd Apatow
#4. I wanted to see how funny I could be without making the choice that every 10 minutes something big and visual had to happen.
Judd Apatow
#6. I think the story should always determine the visual approach. There are situations where you want things to feel alive and like life, and there are situations that should have some magic and the separation with the grain.
Judd Apatow
#7. I always see other people as predecessors and admire them.
Judd Apatow
#8. I don't really get attached to anything. I'm pretty brutal about cutting stuff. With each successful movie, I've discovered anything that's not connected to the immediate story is going to be cut out of it.
Judd Apatow
#9. I still feel like a weird kid who is about to take a punch in the face. So, I think it's permanent.
Judd Apatow
#10. All of my jokes were about not being able to meet anybody. I didn't have any insight into anything - even my own insecurities.
Judd Apatow
#11. If you watch the arcs of so many comedians, at some point, they just become themselves.
Judd Apatow
#12. People are disappearing from movies, and normal human behaviour is disappearing from movies ... You are not always fighting a creature in life. That's part of life, it's a pretty big part of life, but it's not all of life.
Judd Apatow
#13. If anything is leaking, I try to plug the hole.
Judd Apatow
#14. There's nothing more fun than debating and defending your taste in music.
Judd Apatow
#15. I love magazines and film critics, so I eat it up. I'm not one of those people who says 'I never read anything.' I generally read all of it.
Judd Apatow
#16. I need to find people who I respect so I can respect them, and they'll like being respected so they'll respect me, and that's like a marriage.
Judd Apatow
#17. If the movie's not communicating, it's not working.
Judd Apatow
#18. If you look at who drives the box office numbers at these films, it's men.
Judd Apatow
#19. I have to make good things so good comedians want to talk to me.
Judd Apatow
#20. Parents don't realize that when they teach you about the Holocaust too early, it ruins you for life.
Judd Apatow
#21. Every time I'm in editing, there's always a moment where you think, "Maybe this should be six or seven minutes shorter, but I'm losing character and story that I think is important." When I like things, I'm not in a rush for them to end.
Judd Apatow
#22. I think there have been so many documentaries about pop stars, made by pop stars. It's a new phenomenon. People making these movies where they praise themselves and show their own weaknesses. it's all designed to make you love them even more.
Judd Apatow
#23. I try to just save a fresh, clear head for whoever I'm working with, so hopefully it's helpful that there's someone who doesn't have to sit in the editing room for 12 hours a day, and who's blinded by the massive footage and options that they have.
Judd Apatow
#24. Eventually, the nerds and the geeks will have their day.
Judd Apatow
#25. I think a lot of studios today are run by women, and we are entering a time when a lot of women have evolved in Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade and wanted to become writers and comedians.
Judd Apatow
#26. Mel, if you're going to go up to the bell, ring it.
Judd Apatow
#27. Some stories feel like they need more time or less time to tell. To not obsessively have to trim or add that final two or three minutes is very helpful, because you can just organically follow how the story feels.
Judd Apatow
#28. I hear Amy Schumer on Howard Stern, and I think, "I wish there was a movie that starred her, because she's so interesting," and then at some point I go, "I guess I have to get involved, because it's not happening right now. Maybe I should help try to make that happen."
Judd Apatow
#29. I put on a big show when I write something I think is funny.
Judd Apatow
#30. Back then, you seemed like a crazy person when you were trying to push the boundaries of network TV. People looked at you, and they were offended by the fact that you didn't follow the generic rules of what was expected on network TV.
Judd Apatow
#31. When the entire country was watching one show there was a major discussion happening; is it possible for that to happen in a 1 million channel universe?
Judd Apatow
#32. When people lose their jobs, they can either get another job or be entrepreneurs. In the music industry, a lot of people have attempted the latter by starting their own labels, but in the age of digital downloads, it's very difficult to succeed.
Judd Apatow
#33. When you make a movie, you just send it off into the world. You never actually live it with the crowd.
Judd Apatow
#34. The great thing about Eminem is, he's just hysterical. You forget, people like Eminem because he is riotously funny. And he's a great actor.
Judd Apatow
#35. For me, until I know that the audience really gets what I'm trying to communicate I'm not done.
Judd Apatow
#36. I always felt as a kid that I was underappreciated, invisible or weird, but I've always secretly thought people would one day appreciate what is different about me. I'm always putting that message out there.
Judd Apatow
#38. I feel the responsibility to make things which on some level have something positive to say.
Judd Apatow
#39. I really think more about being honest and truthful about feelings and how people behave for the movies that I direct, but I also love movies like Zohan and Anchorman, just balls to the wall, how much can you make people laugh in one 90 minute period.
Judd Apatow
#40. I had a very specific type of terrible network experience where I was told that people like Seth Rogen and Jason Segel weren't leads, so it truly drove me mad. So to be trusted is all I value.
Judd Apatow
#41. The thing that ruined your life makes you good at your work. And then you get rewarded at work, so you don't bother to fix it in your life.
Judd Apatow
#42. In terms of the emotional underpinning, if you've been in relationships, you understand what's happening.
Judd Apatow
#43. Every day I live by only one rule, be a good guy.
Judd Apatow
#44. I love the Lonely Island. I wish there was more Lonely Island movies.
Judd Apatow
#45. My way of dealing with the world has always been to make fun of it and observe it but not take part in it. That's how I became a writer. But when you have kids, suddenly you have to be part of things. It leads almost to a breakdown because your whole defense mechanism is now really destructive.
Judd Apatow
#46. Deer are like dogs. Except for Bambi, they're pretty personality-less.
Judd Apatow
#47. If you develop 10 things, and you can get two or three made, that's a very high ration.
Judd Apatow
#48. The only thing worse than a crappy TV show which Paddy Chayevsky couldn't have conceived in his worst nightmare is two megacorps fighting over who thought of the crappy show first.
Judd Apatow
#49. A lot of bands that are great disappear a little bit faster than they used to. They don't get as much support for the long haul. You have to be pretty tough to hang in there.
Judd Apatow
#50. You have to write a lot of scripts to get any scripts that are worth making.
Judd Apatow
#51. I feel like Superbad and Freaks And Geeks are somewhat timeless. That's always gratifying, when you feel like 30 years in the future, people will still get it, and it won't seem creaky. It won't come across like The Incredible Mr. Limpet.
Judd Apatow
#52. The hard part about getting much attention is that people start dissecting what you do.
Judd Apatow
#53. I think a lot of Hollywood is in retreat right now trying to figure out how to make money and make the safest bets.
Judd Apatow
#54. As a kid, I was obsessed with the Who. They were the most important band to me. Songs like "I'm One" helped me get through high school.
Judd Apatow
#55. I start thinking about the next movie before it's a success, so I can never have one moment of happiness or peace. I'm instantly thinking about the next one.
Judd Apatow
#56. If I've learned anything - anything - getting older, it's the value of moment-to-moment enjoyment.
Judd Apatow
#57. There's something honorable about holding out for love and not breaking up for the sake of the baby. I see people get divorced, and there is a part of me that thinks, I wonder how hard they tried?
Judd Apatow
#58. I love Coldplay. I love Steely Dan - Steely Dan's probably one of my top three bands of all time.
Judd Apatow
#59. Nowadays, when kids decide they like an artist, they'll absorb everything that artist has ever done in a single night.
Judd Apatow
#60. I used to scream at everybody at the beginning of my career. I'd get really emotional. I'd project all my issues about my parents and safety onto the executives, so every conversation where they gave a note was life or death and you don't love me.
Judd Apatow
#61. Up until 'Bridesmaids', the general consensus was that women preferred comedy a bit softer.
Judd Apatow
#62. There are people who like short movies, and I think they should just watch our movies on DVD because they can pause, go to the bathroom, eat dinner, and come back to it.
Judd Apatow
#63. I've come to believe that the simpler the title, the better. Whenever I try to get cute with it, it seems to be a problem but if it's just The 40-Year-Old Virgin, people seem to know what they're in for.
Judd Apatow
#64. I'm always begging people like James Brooks and Cameron Crowe to come to screenings, to see what they make of it, and they're always ridiculously helpful. They also keep me brave enough to commit to what I'm trying to do. They can be great cheerleaders for risk-taking.
Judd Apatow
#65. I don't think because a story has humor in it means it's brief. For some reason, people think anything that's 30 minutes is a comedy, comedies can be longer or shorter, so can dramas.
Judd Apatow
#66. My dad was a big fan of comedy. He wanted to be a stand-up. He loved Lenny [Bruce]. He also loved Lord Buckley and jazz and stuff. He was a hipster. My parents were kind of beatnik-y, you know, for Salt Lake City. But my humor, I think, came from wanting to disarm people before they hit me.
Judd Apatow
#67. I'm making a movie about relationships, and I'm surrounded by guys scared of talking to girls.
Judd Apatow
#68. If we really talked about what's wrong with you, you'd need a 7-1/2-hour movie and nobody would know what category to put it in!
Judd Apatow
#69. Jerry: If you always want less, in words as well as things, you'll do well as a writer.
Judd Apatow
#70. I'm always talking to people. It's not that complicated. I just find somebody and say, "Do you have any ideas." If they do, we just start thinking things around.
Judd Apatow
#71. It's funny, now there are so many bands that I can never remember any of their names. Maybe it's because I'm old.
Judd Apatow
#72. I don't want to be ordinary. I'm willing to do the work. I'm willing to suffer the indignities of comedy because I want to be great. I don't want to just be good. I want to be great.
Judd Apatow
#73. Life is ridiculous, so why not be a good guy?" That may be the only religion I have to this day.
Judd Apatow
#74. Back in the old days, everyone was shocked if a band had a sponsor for their tour. Now, Bob Dylan can do a commercial for Victoria's Secret and people don't really blink; the Beatles' songs are in all sorts of commercials these days and it doesn't seem to offend anybody. The times are changing.
Judd Apatow
#75. I've had movies bomb with terrible reviews, I've had movies make a lot of money with terrible reviews, I've had movies get good reviews and make money. And I like it best when the movies do well and the reviewers like them.
Judd Apatow
#76. I definitely learned to embrace the quiet moments onstage from Garry Shandling - relaxing and not fighting with the crowd, not raising your voice, not ever trying to win them over.
Judd Apatow
#77. You hear people say: "One day, when I'm in a good position I can make my passion project." I've seen a lot of people get into that position and not make it.
Judd Apatow
#78. A lot of times, it's easy to trim the movie 'cause you just start losing things that you thought would be there just for amusement's sake that actually are not funny. My favorite part of the process is seeing it with an audience. I do about eight previews to see how things are working.
Judd Apatow
#79. There's a great rabbinical motto that says you start each day with a note in each pocket. One note says, "The world was created for you today," and the other note says, "I'm a speck of dust in a meaningless universe," and you have to balance both things.
Judd Apatow
#80. I think people like Lena Dunham really opened up the door to what was possible, and they've inspired young women to go into filmmaking and writing and directing and acting in a way that maybe they didn't before, because now there is a path and there are jobs.
Judd Apatow
#81. When I notice that all the beats sound exactly the same, it starts to wear on me.
Judd Apatow
#82. I'm the guy who gets uncomfortable. That's why I was able to write 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' and 'Knocked Up.' I believe in those guys.
Judd Apatow
#83. Sometimes you need to get away for a few weeks just to figure out who you are again.
Judd Apatow
#84. I don't know if you can be a born-again virgin.
Judd Apatow
#85. There was definitely a period when I just felt out of sync with earth.
Judd Apatow
#86. I didn't want to be a director for hire. It really just took me a long time to learn how to direct and to feel up to the job.
Judd Apatow
#87. That's the greatest thing about comedy. If you've got talent, it's unmistakable. No one misses it and you don't have to wait around for a break. It's very easy to get a break. It's very hard to be good enough.
Judd Apatow
#88. People like the comedy more when they care about the characters.
Judd Apatow
#89. My first writing jobs were writing Tom Arnold specials for HBO, so I love working there.
Judd Apatow
#90. I started a radio show where I interviewed comics.And I interviewed Leno and Seinfeld and John Candy and Father Guido Sarducci and Garry Shandling, all when I was 16.And they kind of told me what to do.
Judd Apatow
#91. I often say that ... I'm just involved in comedy, so I can be around it.
Judd Apatow
#92. It's funny when people debate about music, because they get so passionate about what they enjoy.
Judd Apatow
#93. It's so difficult to shock America these days.
Judd Apatow
#94. I love when people work together who know each other very well. Some of my favourite movies are people who are close friends or families.
Judd Apatow
#95. I was in the recording studio when Pink was recording for a part of the gay rights anthem. It was just amazing to watch her perform. She's just such an incredible singer. She so funny, and so smart, yet she's doing it for this silly, silly song.
Judd Apatow
#96. Television is much more difficult because at every moment the network can force you to change things based on their belief about what would make it popular. You're in a constant debate with a gun at your head, and the gun is cancellation. So it's hard to win the arguments.
Judd Apatow
#97. If you make a bad movie about stand-up, then comedians will mock you for the rest of your life.
Judd Apatow
#98. I don't think there's that many great 90-minute comedies.
Judd Apatow
#99. I think that everything I do tends to root for the underdog.
Judd Apatow
#100. Don't be a jerk. Try to love everyone. Give more than you take. And do it despite the fact that you only really like about seven out of 500 people.
Judd Apatow
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