Top 100 Good Director Quotes
#1. I don't care about names attached to the script. That doesn't matter to me. All things being equal, I would like to work with a good script with a good director, and the part I play is of less important than those two factors.
Alan Arkin
#2. There are definitely reasons to do certain things, but I like to stick to good director, good actor, good script.
Amanda Seyfried
#3. Somebody who likes to do my plays is a good director for them.
Tom Stoppard
#4. There are things that I would avoid, so I have the choice to say no, when I feel I'm repeating myself too much. But then there could be a reason to do that with a good director. So I think actors have to have a loose philosophy.
Toby Jones
#5. If you do well as an actor, a good director will pick up on it, and keep it in the film.
Famke Janssen
#6. So yeah, a good director will be able to listen and hear everything, but have a confident vision of his own that he can say, 'oh yeah - that's a great point.' And you never know; often you can help far more than you think you can, because there's so much more that he's juggling than an actor.
Christian Bale
#7. An average director directs. A good director leads and follows at the same time.
Kensington Gore
#8. I worked with Roger Moore on three episodes of 'The Saint.' He is a lovely man, a good director, and was my favourite actor to work with.
Shirley Eaton
#9. I didn't know I was a good director, and I mean that sincerely. I had done a film a long time ago called 'Cold Around the Heart.' Nobody saw it, and it didn't turn out the way I wanted to.
John Ridley
#10. As the cinematographer is usually more visual than the director is and full cooperation is really the answer and to make a great film, you need a good director and you need a good cinematographer.
Vilmos Zsigmond
#11. I'd love to do a Michel Gondry film. That would be ideal! I'd love to do an Almodovar film; you know, I think he's very, very talented. I don't care that people say he's pretentious. So what? He's a good director; he can be pretentious.
William Moseley
#12. More often than not, if you've got a good director and a good script you can't really go wrong.
Douglas Booth
#13. You either are a good director or you're not.
Rebecca Hall
#15. An actor is only a part of the film, not the whole, and very often, he is moulded by the director. That is why a good director can make so much difference to a film.
Anupam Kher
#16. No director wants to be directed, but no good director ... would shy away from the good ideas of others.
Tommy Lee Jones
#17. A good director's not sure when he gets on the set what he's going to do.
Elia Kazan
#18. Being a good director is knowing sometimes when not to say something.
Gary Oldman
#19. David Boreanaz is actually a very good director and he directed one of our episodes. Excellent director, knew exactly what he wanted. We never had long days with David. He was great, he knew exactly what he wanted and he's a fantastic director.
Michael Clarke Duncan
#20. A good director has to be a captain - he has to work with a lot of people every day.
Melanie Laurent
#21. I'm just trying to find a good project. Work with a good director, someone I really admire. Find a good role.
Logan Lerman
#22. I've been directed by other actors, and being an actor doesn't make you a good director.
Laurie Metcalf
#23. A lot of directors don't know what they want to do. Every director I've seen that was a good director that I've admired knew exactly what he wanted to do. They didn't sit there and think about it.
John Milius
#24. It's always the script first choosing roles. [Then] whoever else is attached. I never like to be the first person attached, because I don't really trust what's going on, unless there's a really good director.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
#25. It's more fun to play a good character with a good director and good actors around you. That's what makes it fun, and the more variety, the better.
Salma Hayek
#26. Also a good director and good dialogue. That's very important because you're bringing the words to life. So it's very important for an actor to have good dialogue.
Julia Garner
#27. I feel like a good director provokes you to ask questions about your character, but doesn't answer them for you.
Crystal Reed
#28. A good project but a poor director will always make a mediocre film, but an average script and good director can make a good film, as he will put in everything to make the film look good.
Kajol
#29. I think to be a good director you have to be a good person and you have to care about people.
Kristen Stewart
#30. I think what makes a good actor's director is the same thing that makes a good director. Acting is just one of the trades necessary to make a movie.
Matt Damon
#31. I don't think I'd be a good director because people would ask me, you know, "What is it? What's going on here? Where should I put the camera?" Or, "What's my motivation?" And I would say, "Do whatever you want!"
Christopher Walken
#32. I think a good director casts a film so that the actors bring a lot to the table.
Debbie Allen
#33. Having a good director is very important. It's crucial. When you do good work with a certain director, you want to work with them again, and hopefully vice versa.
Giles Matthey
#34. A lot of these roles that I feel like I've had some sort of impact, or that have had an effect on me, have always been with directors who have the time to somehow get to know me. Any good director's going to be curious about who it is that's coming aboard.
Elias Koteas
#35. Matching character and actor is what a good director does.
Bruno Dumont
#36. I love Rob Zombie. Rob's just a dude, you know? He's an artist, but he's a regular guy, down to earth. And he's a damned good director, too, and a lot of fun to work with.
William Forsythe
#37. After all these years, I'm starting to learn what a good director does, and I know what a good one does with actors: help us navigate finer instincts, help us when we're wrong, encourage us when things are great.
Brian Geraghty
#38. I think that it helps that I have acted. That said, it doesn't mean you're going to be a good director.
Valeria Golino
#39. I would take a bad script and a good director any day against a good script and a bad director.
Bette Davis
#41. Whether it's t-shirt and jeans or full monster suit, I'm still an actor underneath it all, and a good director is going to know that.
Doug Jones
#42. 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
#43. There's a para-phrase about Orson Welles saying: "Great films are made by great directors and the rest are made by everyone else." I've been very lucky ... before I start insulting the profession of directing, but I think a good director is everything and a bad director really is nothing at all.
Colin Firth
#44. Any good director, and I've worked with a few that I would call very good, they know how to disarm any anxieties very quickly.
Carmen Ejogo
#45. There are directors that I want to work with and that I admire. You can love a script, but if it doesn't have a good director, it won't be that.
Jennifer Lawrence
#46. I only travel to good material, a good director and a good company. I won't work in another country for a year any longer, because I have a lovely wife and I adore her and I can't bear to be away from her.
Jim Dale
#47. If the project has good writing and is something I get excited about, then I'll do the role. And if it's for TV, I'll ask myself, 'Is it a show that I'd watch?' If it's a play or movie, I'll want to know if there's a good director attached.
Gbenga Akinnagbe
#48. I think a good director can embrace any genre and it's the kind of thing where you always want to do something different. You always want to challenge yourself.
David Ayer
#49. I depend on good editors and a good director.
Indira Varma
#50. A good director creates an environment, which gives the actor the encouragement to fly.
Kevin Bacon
#51. Really good director sometimes will kind of see what the actors are doing and then get in there. Because there's the realization that you have to find it a little bit and then kind of clump around and sniff it out.
Ron Livingston
#52. And I think being a good director is being able to be completely tyrannical and you've got to be an absolute dictator while at the same time, you have to listen and see everything because it can all change on a dime.
Bob Balaban
#53. Sharing the same vision for what's on the page is always a good idea. The director's job is to establish what that is and make sure that everyone sticks to it when it comes down to actually executing it.
Thomas Jane
#54. As a director you come in and tell the actors how good they are.
Bryan Cranston
#55. I majored in Chinese Studies. I'm probably the only director of chicken Indian zombie movies who can speak pretty good Mandarin.
Lloyd Kaufman
#56. I'd love to do another 'Indiana Jones.' A character that has a history and a potential, kind of a rollicking good movie ride for the audience, Steven Spielberg as a director - what's not to like?
Harrison Ford
#57. Good is the director who lets you do what you have to do.
Marc Ribot
#58. I got a nomination for director, which means the world to me; it's just the most exciting thing for me and my family. You do the good hard work, and the rest of it is something you shouldn't get too caught up in, but when it happens - boy! I respect it.
David O. Russell
#59. Movies are certainly a director's medium, so getting the opportunity to work with really good directors is everything to me.
Clive Owen
#60. I think the director is becoming more important. To work under rushed conditions, you need to have an extremely professional director. If the director's good than the end result will be good.
Glenn Ford
#61. If the script is good, the cast and director good, I'll go anywhere.
Ken Watanabe
#62. Of course you want to be good and you want to do the best you can, but I am inspired by great writing. If there's something about the script, that's what I go for, although I know that that doesn't always translate because sometimes it's about the vision of the director.
Sally Hawkins
#63. The stories that I want to tell, especially as a director, don't necessarily have a perfect ending because, the older you get, the more you appreciate a good day versus a happy ending. You understand that life continues on the next day; the reality of things is what happens tomorrow.
Drew Barrymore
#64. As a director, you're only as good as your collaborators. You surround with collaborators that are going to understand what you're trying to do. Not only that, they're going to push and fight for what you're trying to do.
Alfonso Cuaron
#65. If you have a script that's not great, if you have a great director, you can make a great movie, but if you have a great script with a director who's not good, never are you going to have a good movie.
Monica Bellucci
#66. I don't want to infantilize the actor; I want to empower the actor. Actors can be many things, but all of the really good ones are really great storytellers, and I'm interested in that. If you're not interested in that as a director then you better be Stanley Kurbrick.
Paul Bettany
#67. I've done a few movies where I really liked the project, but I wasn't sure about the director, and I still did it and my instinct was right, in the beginning. Even though it was a good story, the guy still didn't really know what he was doing.
Ray Liotta
#68. For me, a director is a director immaterial of the gender. At the end of the day, the audience is only interested in watching a good film.
Boman Irani
#69. In the year and a half I was on SNL, I never saw anybody ad lib anything. For a very good reason - the director cut according to the script. So, if you ad libbed, you'd be off mike and off camera.
Harry Shearer
#70. It is important to be financially savvy when you turn producer. As a director, you just need to have a good script in hand.
Anupam Kher
#71. A director is a man, therefore he has ideas; he is also an artist, therefore he has imagination. Whether they are good or bad, it seems to me that I have an abundance of stories to tell. And the things I see, the things that happen to me, continually renew the supply.
Michelangelo Antonioni
#72. I'd rather have one good scene in a movie by a great director than a small role in a mediocre movie.
Tahar Rahim
#73. I like to audition for good projects because if it's a good project, it's an opportunity to get in front of a casting director.
Krysten Ritter
#74. 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' is a good one because it not only turned out, I think, to be a really funny movie but it was also a delight to shoot. We were in the South of France, working with Glenne Headly and Michael Caine and Frank Oz the director - who were just fun.
Steve Martin
#75. When I on set as a director I crazy. My temper is not that good.
Andrew Lau
#76. The good part of working in TV is it's like being a studio director in old Hollywood and approaching different genres. It's a chance to try out different styles.
Mary Harron
#77. If I had to choose criteria, for me, it's about first the director. I want to be a part of something that's good and intellectually challenging. After the director it's the character and the story. That's the deal for me.
Giovanni Ribisi
#78. I don't think a director should have any kids. I don't even think it's good for your physical health. Even guys in their 30s look exhausted because directors never get enough sleep. What I do is stressful enough.
Tom Berenger
#79. I believe that the director is really the soul. It is a collaborative effort, but the director is the one who needs to have that vision. It could be a great script, but it starts from there. You need to have good material, at least, but if you don't have someone with vision, it's just words.
Michelle Yeoh
#80. I thought I'd become a funeral director when I wasn't going to be an actor.. I thought I would be good at helping some people with the grieving process and with trying to get them to talk about and understand who this person was.
Angelina Jolie
#81. As a writer and director, I want to know what is behind the good manners and soft voice. Who is inside the silhouette?
Federico Fellini
#82. I usually work with the director and it's just a collaboration between me and the one person. I think you make good movies that way. If the director and the composer can have this common goal and this excitement about making something great, then you're going to do something good.
Howard Shore
#83. I don't see how it's a risky thing to take a great part with a great director and a great script. That, to me, is not really a dangerous, risky proposition. It's actually a really good choice.
Dennis Quaid
#84. As a director/writer/producer, all you ever want is to work with actors who make you look better, who make the work you do seem as good as it can be and even better than it is.
J.J. Abrams
#85. I don't need a director who's 'good with actors.' ... A master manipulator is heaven.
Frances McDormand
#86. There's obviously something that feels very good about being with a new filmmaker who's very excited, but I also think there's something very comforting in a director who's been around a few times. Both have their pros and cons.
Brie Larson
#87. The smartest thing a director can do is surround himself with really good people.
Scott Ellis
#88. The techniques of different directors are very different, and people have different ways of expressing ideas in film. I'm happiest when working with a director as I would be if I were an actor. I'm wanting to provide a really good performance.
Howard Shore
#89. Give me a good script, and I'll be a hundred times better as a director.
George Cukor
#90. I don't need to work right away. I'd rather wait for something really good; to be excited about a role, or a director, or a project.
Nina Dobrev
#91. I sketched out a rough story for them and the director said, well it's a good story but we have the go-ahead from Universal to make this script and did I want to do it. I said no, and they left.
Ellen Burstyn
#92. Tarantino is the coolest damn guy; he's just so much fun to work with. He might be the best director I've ever worked with. He just seems to know how to do it and he knows how to make you feel good about it. He's having so much fun you start having fun. You can't help it.
David Carradine
#93. I think that for the actors, the last thing that they want is a director that's not watching, a director that goes 'Okay, it sounded good to me,' and they were doing something else or preoccupied with something else because they were worried about the light changing.
Gus Van Sant
#94. It's fun to do something funny and have the director laughing. It makes you feel good.
Jon Lovitz
#95. My tendency as an actor was to correct people, was to say, 'What if we tried it this way, what about if we tried that way?' That's terrible habit for an actor, but that's a good habit for director. So I became a director.
David Mamet
#96. My aunt put my cousins into a children's modelling agency, then my mum did it with us. Me and my sister got a few TV adverts, which was good pocket money. A director saw photos of me and asked me to do a short film.
Sullivan Stapleton
#97. A music director cannot and should not be chosen on the basis of a first date. It is not so difficult to make a good impression with a single appearance, usually containing some of a conductor's party pieces, works they have performed successfully many times before.
Leonard Slatkin
#98. There's no such thing as an actor giving positive criticism to a director. The minute you say 'Don't you think it would look nicer ... ', that director's going to hate your guts. Particularly if it's a good idea.
Peter Mullan
#99. The thrill of doing 'Good People' is I love those kinds of stories, and I'm good at them, and it's wonderful to see that material given to a terrific director and a terrific cast.
Kelly Masterson
#100. I've had unsatisfying experiences, but mostly it's about communication, which is why I make an effort to talk to the director beforehand to make sure we see eye-to-eye as creative individuals. If [good] communication isn't present, you can lose something and end up very unhappy.
Martin Starr
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