Julia Leigh Quotes

#1. There is a difference between a voyeur and a tender witness. Maybe I think the audience is more of a tender witness than a voyeur, which has a shady undertone.

Julia Leigh

#2. I think it's restrictive to typecast myself as a novelist because I enjoy other forms of expression. I love literature and I love cinema.

Julia Leigh

#3. The concentration of the elite athlete is akin perhaps to the concentration of the writer.

Julia Leigh

#4. Whenever people asked "How are you?" by way of social nicety I lied through my teeth. "Not too bad," I'd say. Or "Swings and roundabouts." At least I didn't say "Fine, thanks." or "A livid scar cuts across my very being.

Julia Leigh

#5. The most important thing is to have something important to say and finding the means to say it.

Julia Leigh

#6. One of the most ephemeral and important things is atmosphere and tone and it's very hard to put your finger on what creates that.

Julia Leigh

#7. I think striking the right tone for your story is, if you like, the alchemical work of writing.

Julia Leigh

#8. I always find it extremely hard to remember the act of beginning. I almost deliberately forget it.

Julia Leigh

#9. All this talk about writing is a little bit moot, because it is almost an unthinking process. It is actually a paradox because you are constantly making choices.

Julia Leigh

#10. I, myself, don't like to see a film on Friday night and then forget it by the next day.

Julia Leigh

#11. I do believe we're all adaptable, and you're probably more adaptable than you realize.

Julia Leigh

#12. To me, the question of inspiration is an exercise in hindsight. The truth is, inspiration is mysterious at the time. I don't think it's ever a rational process.

Julia Leigh

#13. Although filmmaking is collaborative and involves trust, ultimately it is the director who holds the whole picture together in their head.

Julia Leigh

#14. I'm trying to get under people's skin in a way. I don't like films that go in one ear and out the other.

Julia Leigh

#15. I love films where you go into the cinema and loosen the edges of yourself and you hopefully enter into the world of the film. You're watching something unfold before you. I prefer the idea of wonder or intense wonder over shock or something.

Julia Leigh

#16. The point is the 'me' that you see before you is not the 'me' in my private little space, shape-shifting into the writing role, nor is it the 'me' that works with the actors. Here, at the end of the film doing interviews, I feel like I'm in disguise.

Julia Leigh

#17. I think every single person perceives things differently. We are all singular.

Julia Leigh

#18. We stitch together our days and edit out our nights.

Julia Leigh

#19. I don't think good films have messages.

Julia Leigh

#20. It's dangerous to think too much about how a film will be received. Filmmaking is not a popularity contest. Some would disagree.

Julia Leigh