Top 100 Film Set Sayings
#1. We all know that people who've never been on a film set think it's way more glamorous than the people who work on them.
Martin Freeman
#2. It's good to be busy on a film set because there is a lot of sitting around, so if you've got two roles to play at one time, then that's great to do.
Damian Lewis
#4. In terms of drama school, what that will give you that you won't necessarily learn on a film set is the technical ability - ie, projecting your voice and stage craft.
Daniel Radcliffe
#5. Nothing can teach you what it's like to work on a film set, and the best education there can be for an actor is to walk up the street and observe human nature.
Rosamund Pike
#6. There's nothing like the discipline of having to work on a cold film set on the Danubian plain in Bulgaria. Boy, does it get cold.
John Rhys-Davies
#7. One of the best things - and something I'm grateful for every time I walk onto a film set - is my six and a half years on Dawson's Creek and the experience it afforded me in how to get comfortable with the camera.
Michelle Williams
#8. I could be equally happy on a film set or in the middle of a field.
Samantha Morton
#9. I love the energy of an independent film set. No one is there for the money. Everyone is there 'cause they really want to be there. It makes all the difference in the world. It's without ego and agenda, other than just wanting to fulfill a creative dream.
Mamie Gummer
#10. Mike Leigh taught me about making choices - as an actor, you choose between being honest and clever, and with Mike, it's always about being honest. I learned how to behave on a film set from Jim Broadbent. He was a great example of someone with a fantastic career who kept his feet on the ground.
Eddie Marsan
#11. I usually befriend the camera department very early on in the film and drive them nuts. I'm constantly bombarding them with questions and going through the stills photography. A film set is a great place for me and I love it.
Eric Bana
#12. For me, acting is about the art of it and it's about being on a film set and doing your thing, painting a blank canvas.
Shailene Woodley
#13. On a film set, for me, there's so much more time to process what's going on than there is on a television set. There's more wiggle room to try things and fail and try again and get to the heart of what's going on in the scene, which is really fun for me. It's what I like to do.
Taylor Schilling
#14. I used to not listen that much, but I've really learnt to listen to other people and to really listen to what they're saying. I've found, especially being on a film set, people have so many different stories; if you just listen, you can pick up so much stuff. I try to listen as much as I can.
William Moseley
#15. I'm actually quite different when I'm there [ in the university] to how I am on a TV or film set. It's very challenging and I really, really like it. And I enjoy being in that environment.
Yasmin Paige
#16. 'Slow West' is a film that I did with Michael Fassbender in New Zealand and Scotland. The director was John McLean. It's a film set in the 1800s. I play a young Scottish boy brought up in the royal family. I fall in love with someone who works on our land.
Kodi Smit-McPhee
#17. It's amazing how much you can absorb on a film set.
Mia Wasikowska
#18. I get quite fed up being on a film set day after day, six days a week. It can get to be a grind.
Josh Hartnett
#19. I don't think I could ever have a desk job, so I get to be mobile. I'm on set. I get to walk around kind of doing my own thing, being independent - it's just a really good vibe. Everyone on a film set is very happy, and they all love their jobs, so it's a cool environment to be a part of.
Jean-Luc Bilodeau
#20. I think being on a film set for such a long time made me a technical actor without realizing it.
Daniel Radcliffe
#21. Your slippers last a lot longer in your bedroom. On a film set, they do get very scuffed up.
Martin Freeman
#22. I always feel scared and insecure on a film set. I don't know any other way.
Penelope Cruz
#23. A lot of directors prefer the solitude of the editing process, but I revel in the craziness of what a film set is.
Alan Parker
#24. My experience of children on a film set, especially on a big film set like the 'Potter' one, is not wholly positive.
Jessie Cave
#25. There was one titanic guiding light on the film set, and I was in the presence of a true Mahatma, in the deepest and most profound sense of the word.
Ben Kingsley
#26. Most of my life, I've been on a film set. There isn't anything to learn, not learn, unlearn. It's just in me.
Samantha Morton
#27. My dad, for the first 15 years of my career, on every visit he made to a play or a film set, would find the oldest person on set and say, 'Do you think my son has a future?'
Kenneth Branagh
#28. When I'm working with Red One, we all have to do everything, from making sets and costumes to tearing tickets. Forget about craft services! So when I get on a film set, it's a thrill to be just working as an actor.
Joe Dinicol
#29. I meditated before I hosted the Oscars, I meditate before I go on stage, I meditate in the morning and lunchtime when I'm on a film set.
Hugh Jackman
#30. I get terrified the first day I'm on a film set. I get nervous walking down a red carpet. I find making speeches the most terrifying thing in the world.
Catherine Zeta-Jones
#31. Some people manage to make that transition from child actor to adult actor seamlessly. But I felt that if I spent my whole life on a film set without taking a few years to do something else, all I would ever know about was film sets.
Anna Popplewell
#32. On a film set, we're all glorified troubleshooters, really, as directors. It's not if a problem arises. It's when.
Christine Swanson
#33. I definitely want to go on acting for as long as I can find employment. I'm never happier than when I'm on a film set. I just want to keep working.
Daniel Radcliffe
#34. The idea the actors are the most important people on a film set I think is very stupid. Actors are the most replaceable people there. There are literally millions of us. There's very few people that can operate a steady-cam. The numbers are a lot, lot fewer for that, you know?
Daniel Radcliffe
#35. If you make a film set in London or in Pakistan or wherever, the thing that interests me is the relationships between individuals - individuals and society, individuals and their family, their girlfriend or boyfriend, it's all the same idea.
Michael Winterbottom
#36. Every film teaches you something; every experience on every film set with every co-star teaches you something. You learn something new. I think the challenge is to keep working harder and doing better.
Deepika Padukone
#37. You have to think about what you want to do. There is nothing to say that you should study from the age of 20 to 23. I learnt more on a film set at 17 than in the classroom.
Imogen Poots
#38. It was very much about performances, the whole ensemble thing was just great - everybody working together. Sometimes it didn't feel like a film set. It wasn't technically driven, it was very, very enjoyable.
Cillian Murphy
#39. Venice never quite seems real, but rather an ornate film set suspended on the water.
Frida Giannini
#40. I think a film set is a quite controlled environment and you feel like you can trust them and it is going to be a safe place to work, but I really don't think about it.
Orlando Bloom
#41. I've been working since I was 9, and I've never known a life without a film set.
Daniel Radcliffe
#42. In spite of being professionally gregarious, in my nonpaid hours I'm a bit of a hermit. After being around a crew of fifty people for twelve hours a day on a film set, I really like my alone time, and as always, I abhor small talk.
Rob Lowe
#43. A film set is a workplace for me; it's my office, and nobody really wants to be in a stressful work environment.
Park Chan-wook
#44. I'm sort of a delusional in the sense of, I was just gonna graduate from school and just, like, prance onto a film set and have a movie crew waiting for me to make my '8½' or something, which is completely insane.
Max Winkler
#45. It often disturbs me, when I see a film set in a historical time, that the people are too modern.
Max Von Sydow
#46. A film set becomes its own family anyway, and all family dynamics come out during a shoot. The trick is hiring people who know how to handle that.
Noah Baumbach
#47. It's very tempting to over-eat all the bad things when you're on a film set.
Roger Moore
#48. I always try and learn as much as I can from different departments on a film set.
Mia Wasikowska
#49. I don't feel that fear is a good incentive on a film set.
Andrew Lincoln
#50. A film set is really delicate and people treat you very very well if you're an actor because they want you to be as comfortable as possible for you to do your work, but it really is just one in a team of many and usually 150 people.
Amanda Seyfried
#51. In film, I find it very useful always to do some preparation before you start rehearsals or start shooting, because there's so much that's against you on a film set.
Ben Whishaw
#52. I think the dictator director is based upon stories from the past. I don't think anyone would put up with it now. There are a lot of people on a film set with egos. So, to be completely authoritarian, you'd probably have to have a reputation like Kurosowa or somebody to get away with it.
Colin Firth
#53. I've always been fascinated by Elizabeth Taylor, and I had read that her first kiss happened on a film set, which actually made me a little sad. You need to have normal experiences of your own.
Emma Watson
#54. I like to be around people who make me laugh. It's one of my favorite things on a set. I hate it when people take themselves serious in a film set.
Evangeline Lilly
#55. I don't feel isolated on a film set. In a way you do because you don't really mix with the outside world; you're just sort of working non-stop for a few months, but you've got so many people around you.
Saoirse Ronan
#56. I remember doing my SATs on a film set; you had to complete the tests in a certain time and, obviously, you couldn't be interrupted. I think I did pretty well; it wasn't too difficult.
Nicholas Hoult
#57. I think you are taken more seriously as a young adult when you are on a film set and you are doing a job and people expect something from you. Is that losing my youth? Not at all. I had a fantastic childhood.
Sarah Bolger
#58. Your own barometer is all you have to go by, and often what makes a good director is knowing when not to say something. On occasions you can find yourself on a film set where the person who is wearing the director's hat is only trying to justify his position.
Gary Oldman
#59. I'd be happy doing anything on a film set.
Nick Frost
#60. On a film set everyone is very cool. Well, blase really.
Anthony Daniels
#61. On a film set, there are runners who are 19, it's their first job, but to me they're as important as anybody else because if they don't do their job then nobody else can. So I don't think anybody should be treated disrespectfully or as if they're of a lower status.
Jim Carter
#62. I am not a master-class director. I am not a teacher. I am a coach. I dont have a methodology. Each actor is different. And on the film set, you have to be next to them all.
Sam Mendes
#63. 'Attack The Block' is an alien invasion film set in South London. It's about a group of kids who are some petty thugs, who have to find the hero in themselves, when they attack.
John Boyega
#64. I'm more likely to lose my temper on a film set than almost anywhere. Often the level of idiocy is so exalted that it's impossible to comprehend.
John Malkovich
#65. I'll say initially acting was my first love, and that's what I pursued. But then, so far as even my first day on a film set, and just watching how things were set up, I just said, 'I think I want to be in charge.' I am very much type-A. I am a bit of a control freak.
Chris Evans
#66. If I die on a film set when I'm 80, I'll be happy with that.
Daniel Radcliffe
#67. It's hard to get yourself into a position where someone will trust you to direct a film anyway, whatever sex you are. Certainly in England, the film set is a very male preserve. There's a lot of very rough looking men pushing equipment around that don't want the gaffer to be a girl.
Colin Firth
#68. There is so much to do on a film set. It is an extraordinarily invigorating and wonderful place to be, when things are running well.
Ben Kingsley
#69. It's always really surreal, being on a film set, but inside a beautiful, massive scene.
Holliday Grainger
#70. I'd love to work with Sir Anthony Hopkins, but if that doesn't happen, I'd sneak on to a film set and watch him at work. He is a compelling actor.
Marc Warren
#71. I remember being on Atonement and it felt very right to be there. There was so much excitement every day. I remember very vividly how it felt to be a child on a film set, and that is actually really important to hold on to for as long as you continue to make films.
Saoirse Ronan
#72. A film set is the most comfortable place I could be in the world; that's what I know.
Dakota Johnson
#73. Ridley creates a very immersive world, so when you walk up to a Ridley Scott film set you're in Ridley Scott's imagination, and it's a really comfortable, cool place to be.
Chiwetel Ejiofor
#74. I certainly don't feel like I am desperate to run away from a film set. I love the hustle and bustle. Everything is sort of mad right before a take, and then it just settles, and you've got these two minutes of a bit of magic. I just love that in film.
Saoirse Ronan
#76. But the truth is, at some point, our films - almost every single one of them - are really bad. And it's largely hats off to John Lasseter and Ed Catmull who have set up a system whereby they're expecting it.
Pete Docter
#77. Being on set is quite difficult, because it's so big and you've got to try and relax, which isn't easy when you know you're in a massive film. I was terrified for quite a long time.
Benedict Cumberbatch
#78. Being on a Paul Thomas Anderson film, the best decision an actor can make is to listen to Paul Thomas Anderson. Because he's probably not going to steer anyone in the wrong direction. I would always say go with your gut on any other movie set, but with Paul, I would say go with Paul's gut.
Rami Malek
#79. Of course, it's wonderful to film any period piece - but especially 'Foyle's War' because the art direction is so imaginative and yet at the same time so real. You can open a drawer on set, and even though the camera never sees what's inside, it'll be filled with genuine 1940s documents.
Honeysuckle Weeks
#80. My film school is making movies. But, I do think that being an actor has served me immensely, as both a writer and director, in terms of knowing what is playable and what will be fun to play, for actors, and also how to communicate to actors on set, and not screw them up and get them in their head.
Josh Radnor
#81. I'd never watch a horror film, but after I found out I was going to be in one, I watched, like, four of them, including The Shining, I was terrified - I couldn't sleep for days. But I wanted to get myself used to things I was going to see on the set.
Jennifer Love Hewitt
#82. If someone were to hire me for a film they'd be getting a certain kind of package, that's for sure, a certain set of tools. But I would listen to the director.
Mike Patton
#83. When you're on a set it can be very tedious and slow. It's just not as big as when you see it on film.
Sanaa Lathan
#84. I can't see any reason why a film shouldn't be stylized and visually beautiful. I don't think a beautiful set is pretentious.
Alain Resnais
#85. E'en Beauty mourns in her decaying bower,
That Time upon her angel brow should set
His crooked autograph, and mar the jet
Of glossy locks. Lo! how her chaplet green,
The hoar frost and the canker worm destroy.
Decay's dull film obscures those matchless eyes.
Isaac McLellan
#86. When I'm making an American film, it's more safe because there are so many people on the set to watch me. Whatever I do, they say, 'What are you doing!? Tell me first!' There are so many restrictions.
Jackie Chan
#87. In film roles, I play a lot of heavies and a lot of bad guys, so I tend to be the jokester and the good-time Charlie on the set.
Bob Gunton
#88. The way you set up for a sequel is by having a successful film. The focus is on making a successful film, and making a film that travels around the world, and that people enjoy and have fun with, and that people are able to escape with.
Peter Berg
#89. He set down his chili dog, and after a pondering moment of silence, he replied with words of wisdom I'd never forget: "Fuck women. Fuck school. Fuck money. Go write some books, get a good agent, lift weights, get tattoos, and never do a film with Keanu Reeves.
Jon Konrath
#90. Billy Wilder is really is a heavy influence on Bound. We felt that film noir was a genre where you could create a really contained story. We wanted to be on a set as much as we could to get the kind of style level we were looking for.
Lana Wachowski
#91. I don't want egos and personalities on the set that make it more difficult to make the film. I don't want people who take the focus away from the movie and the ideas behind the movie.
Neill Blomkamp
#92. Oh, what the hell did I know? I went to the set the first day in full makeup and the director told me to take it off. So I did the film without makeup. I had nothing to do with anything I did. I never understood why I was so famous.
Ava Gardner
#93. When you're supposed to be close and friends in the film, the moment you're talking as friends off the set, it makes it that much better when you're filming.
Kevin Hart
#94. I didn't go to film school. I got my education on the set as a niche publicist in the film industry.
Ava DuVernay
#95. The main thing that I learned from editing is that most people, when they're making a film, they start too early into the story. They will try to set up the characters, they will try to establish things before the plot actually starts.
Steven Zaillian
#96. My first film was a movie shot in 1974. I was 18 on that movie set. It was called 'Big Bad Mama.' I turned 19 on the next movie I worked on, which was a black 'Blazing Saddles.' I worked in the art department. It was called 'Darktown Strutters.'
Bill Paxton
#97. Some fifteen to twenty Burgess species cannot be allied with any known group, and should probably be classified as separate phyla. Magnify some of them beyond the few centimeters of their actual size, and you are on the set of a science-fiction film ...
Stephen Jay Gould
#98. When I made my first film, I didn't think of it as directing, so it wasn't like I set out to become a director.
Kathryn Bigelow
#99. I'm lucky that I get to jump around, do a big-budget comedy and then a smaller film. I don't even make a big distinction between them. No one believes this, but it's the same. I'm the same person, trying to make it work. I just love being on a movie set. I like making movies.
Richard Linklater
#100. Even if I set out to make a film about a fillet of sole, it would be about me.
Federico Fellini
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