Top 100 Quotes About Good Directors
#1. I've been working with good directors - the Wachowski brothers, Spike Lee, Terry Gilliam, Mel Gibson ... I love American movies, but I love European movies, too, and I want to do both.
Monica Bellucci
#3. Movies are certainly a director's medium, so getting the opportunity to work with really good directors is everything to me.
Clive Owen
#4. I've never played a Dane in a movie. I've had offers to be in Danish movies, including for some good directors, but I either had a job at the time or, when I was available, the movie just didn't happen. Hopefully someday I'll do one.
Viggo Mortensen
#5. There are times when you work with directors on set, and things are a bit rudderless, and those can be good directors.
Grant Heslov
#6. I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to work with good directors and for me it's not really a plan each time I'm on a set with one of them; I think about what I can learn from them because I'm very aware that my filmmaking skills are very modest.
Sacha Baron Cohen
#7. Good directors say, Here's where the play is. They stand by the heart of the matter. Some of them stand beside it.
Sam Waterston
#8. We had many good directors - John Carpenter, Brian De Palma - but things have become polluted by business, money and bad relationships. The success of the horror genre has led to its downfall.
Dario Argento
#9. 'The X-Files' from the beginning was a very visual show, and with Bob Mandel directing the pilot and Dan Sackheim being involved in the production of the pilot and directing the first episode, they brought a visual style to it that was elaborated on by so many good directors.
Chris Carter
#10. As for the Canadians - good actors and good directors are sometimes taken by the American market, you know, if they're good enough.
Karine Vanasse
#11. It's entirely to do with personality, I think. There are good directors who talk a lot, bad directors who talk a lot, and good directors who don't say much and vice-versa. It just depends on whether people respond to that personality and whether people have a willingness to do something for them.
Colin Firth
#12. I would love to work with Quentin Tarantino - he's my number one. My ultimate. I would love to work with Paul Thomas Anderson, Alexander Payne - Pedro Almodovar wouldn't be too shabby. There are so many good directors, but those are some of my favorites.
Kirsten Dunst
#13. A lot of really good directors have a killer in them, as if they'd do anything to get that image. But that comes with the terrain and I don't mind it.
Judy Davis
#14. Good directors can bring certain things out of you, with their intensity or gentleness or sensitivity or understanding. They can make an actor feel he can do no wrong.
Robert De Niro
#15. Yes, there are directors I admire, the mavericks. Altman. There are many good directors.
Mark Rydell
#16. There are lots of good directors I would like to work with; I want to be inspired and challenged by them.
Julian Ovenden
#17. I watch 'Entourage.' I aspire the good life that they live and lead. Honestly, I am just trying to be me by trying to do good films, have fun at it and trying to work with good directors, and, of course, I am a bit of a silent party boy, also. I have my share of fun sometime, too.
Ranbir Kapoor
#18. Norwegian kids, they grow up well educated in film. So they have a lot of good directors there.
Stellan Skarsgard
#19. I want to act, I want to write, and I need to follow good directors.
James Corden
#20. There's good directors and bad directors. Some of the critics are really conscientious and really try to do what they can popularize the work or to explain the work and so on. And then there's the critics who just wants to make a reputation by attacking. Those are the ones I'm not keen on.
Peter Bogdanovich
#21. There are two qualities that I've noticed in good directors: One is that they have their vision very strongly in place; and two is that they listen to everyone's opinion and still remember their vision.
Rupert Friend
#22. I've worked with some very good directors and some very bad ones. I learned a great deal from both. From the bad, untalented people, you learn what not to do. And when you work with very highly talented people, you want to emulate them.
Tommy Lee Jones
#23. A lot of actors aren't particularly good directors. And they're not particularly good with other actors. That's kind of a fallacy.
Peter Mullan
#24. That's the main thing, looking for interesting characters, good directors, and experiences where you're growing and learning.
Nicholas Hoult
#25. Because I've made a film with such an amazing director as Tarantino, I'm much more conscious of working with good directors from now on, so that's what's important to me. I don't really care about making a big movie - I just want to make good ones.
Melanie Laurent
#26. I think a lot of good directors listen to music while they're working. The songs just don't become a part of the film. They're replaced.
Ben Folds
#27. And I just want to work with good directors and good people.
Charlie Hunnam
#28. I like to work with talented people, I must say that. That's my weakness. I really like to work with good directors. That doesn't mean I don't like to work with starting up young directors, that's fun also.
Vilmos Zsigmond
#29. I always used to associate good directors as being ones who are totally extreme and have an answer for everything and there are no loose ends.
Chris Lowell
#30. I've turned down good directors before because I knew the part didn't speak to me and I've worked with less talented directors before because the part I had such passion for.
Ethan Hawke
#31. I guess once you've been acting for a long time, you glean the great bits of good directors and the bad bits from other directors, and you know the way that you would like to be directed.
Luke Evans
#32. I worked for John Ford, Howard Hawks, Henry Hathaway, Raoul Walsh - I worked for some real good directors.
Richard Farnsworth
#33. Good directors give short and specific instructions to their actors.
Bill Hader
#34. You can't rely on the approval of others. I used to always look for praise from my directors to reassure myself that I was doing a good job. I don't do that anymore.
Jacob Vargas
#35. Obviously I've got a great team of people within the company. You can't operate all by yourself. We have a good board of directors and a big bench, and they can make decisions if I'm not around.
Roger Penske
#36. In films, I didn't crave the type of attention I had sort of stumbled into in my music career. And I do not audition well. I'm really not good at it. Early on, I did movies like 'Alpha Dog' and 'Black Snake Moan' because the directors didn't ask me to audition.
Justin Timberlake
#37. Scripts are what matter. If you get the foundations right and then you get the right ingredients on top, you stand a shot ... but if you get those foundations wrong, then you absolutely don't stand a shot. It's very rare-almost never-that a good film gets made from a bad screenplay.
Tim Bevan
#38. I've done so many movies with first-time directors, and honestly I just go with gut instinct. People that usually can tell me a good story, and talk to me about why the movie is the movie they want to make. I just go with my gut.
Neal H. Moritz
#39. I worked with fantastic actors, fantastic directors. People I would never otherwise have met. Was I limited? Yes. Did I use it as I could have? No. But I was always ambivalent about Hollywood and what I wanted. And ambivalence in our business is no good for success.
Valeria Golino
#40. The directors that I end up having a really good time with are the ones that understand the fluidity of the medium and are interested in catching lightning in a bottle.
Oliver Platt
#41. When I think back on it, of course I got lucky and got great directors and good breaks but all that was the physical part. But what made me a star was that I could take a chance and not have anything to worry about in terms of losing.
Shah Rukh Khan
#42. On a simple level, you need directors who are good at action and can choreograph an action scene, but you need them to also have that sense of fun and that sense of movement and that ability to get the actors to really respond to the material in the way that you want them to. It's a very big thing.
Adrian Hodges
#43. It's turned into a world of amateurs. There are amateur actors making millions of dollars, amateur cinematographers, amateur directors ... Jesus, these amateur directors can get deals for anything. Another comic book? Oh, very good.
James Coburn
#44. I'm thinking about directing, but I know it's a lot of work and I appreciate what directors do and I would like to be good at it. The opportunity has presented itself four to five times, and I usually said no because of the script.
Angela Bassett
#45. It began when I was so ill that there was a good chance of dying. I promised myself that if I survived I would never again pander to a magazine's requests or follow the ideas of art directors. I would only make images which were personal, which arose out of my own life.
Helmut Newton
#46. 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
#47. Having been a child actor, I remember how directors would trick me to get good performances out of me. I don't think you need to do that.
Asia Argento
#48. Directors, producers can make you look good or make you look bad.
Aaron Eckhart
#49. There are a lot of male directors who are directing female-driven pieces. I think that its good to get the girl's point of view and they should write stuff that they know.
Jerusha Hess
#50. Critics don't want to see directors they like make too much of a left turn. That's good for criticism.
Quentin Tarantino
#51. 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
#52. Producers generally don't like me; directors do, generally. Convincing the producers is hard. They can't see the commercial value behind such a face, nor would they get a commercial value, necessarily - and I don't mean that in a good way or a bad way.
Amanda Plummer
#53. I don't need a director who's 'good with actors.' ... A master manipulator is heaven.
Frances McDormand
#54. 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
#55. I had been doing summer stock every summer while I was in college. We did a showcase, like most good conservatories do - monologues and things that agents and casting directors come to see. From that I got an agent.
Randy Harrison
#56. I don't think many actors are the best judge of careers. I think generally we have good instincts about what we can do in terms of acting. And often they become directors, which I don't want to be.
Hugh Jackman
#57. 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
#58. The biggest mistake in student films is that they are usually cast so badly, with friends and people the directors know. Actually you can cover a lot of bad direction with good acting.
Brian De Palma
#59. There's no big splashy renaissance in Italian films. We have good young actors and directors. What we lack are screenwriters. It's hard to write about Italy.
Valeria Golino
#60. No comedy should be longer than 90 minutes. There's no such thing as a good long joke.
John Waters
#62. 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
#63. I gotta say, the Catholic Church has churned out a lot of great artists and directors and actors, so if that's all they do, that's fine by me. If they're good at churning out tortured artists, that's great!
Paul Rust
#64. I look for something that grabs me and that's heartfelt, and that's coming from a good place. I want to work with good actors and with directors that I can learn from.
Harry Treadaway
#65. More often than not, if you've got a good director and a good script you can't really go wrong.
Douglas Booth
#66. I guarantee you that two directors that are any good can take the same story, change the name of the characters, change the name of the town, and make an entirely different picture.
Howard Hawks
#67. I mean, I'm willing to do anything with Chris Chulack - he's one of my favorite directors I've ever worked with, and I just think he's a fantastic man, and a great creator, and a good friend.
C. Thomas Howell
#68. I am no expert on tax; I'm a film producer. I read books and think about which ones would make good movies, and then I work with directors in order to make them.
Alison Owen
#69. Three directors whose work directly influences mine are Paul Thomas Anderson, Darren Aronofsky and Susanne Bier (her Danish films). You'll notice that they all don't make feel good movies, same as me, and their films are always visually simple but beautiful (and I hope mine are!).
Chika Anadu
#70. I'm interested in good collaborations and in working with directors who bring something new and interesting out of you.
Howard Shore
#71. But the audience is right. They're always, always right. You hear directors complain that the advertising was lousy, the distribution is no good, the date was wrong to open the film. I don't believe that. The audience is never wrong. Never.
William Friedkin
#72. Your ideas dry up sometimes, and you get lazy sometimes 'cause you're around the same people. That was the good thing about having different directors. You had to stay on your toes.
Robert Pattinson
#73. For 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona,' for example, Woody Allen is one of the greatest American directors, and we really had a very good working relationship. We understand each other really well. He gave me one of the best opportunities somebody has ever given me in my career.
Penelope Cruz
#74. I'm really open to anything that's good. If I read something and it's good, and I like the director, it never really needs to be a specific type of character.
Kevin Durand
#75. The great directors managed to dissolve and disappear into the work. They make other people look good.
Alexander Mackendrick
#76. I realize more than ever that this ministry has been a team effort. Without the help of our prayer partners, our financial supporters, our staff, and our board of directors - this ministry and all of our dreams to spread the Good News of God's love throughout the world would not have been possible.
Billy Graham
#77. I've always had good relationships with directors. I'm one of those people where, if there's a good idea coming from the sound guy, I'll take it. Filmmaking is a collaborative effort, whether it's a first-time director or it's Mike Nichols. I think that's the standard that the great ones set.
Patrick Wilson
#78. Being a good director is knowing sometimes when not to say something.
Gary Oldman
#79. A musical is only as good as its director. The same can also be said for the CIA.
Martin Short
#80. ...God is already out there in the world ahead of us. In our teaching, therefore, we must do more than merely help people learn how to be good church members. We are directors preparing people for roles in a drama that encompasses every part of their lives.
Richard Robert Osmer
#81. I find that a lot of actors who are good and open to challenges have lived a full life. When you walk into an audition, you have more to say for yourself because you come from the real world. It's more enticing for directors, I think.
Idris Elba
#82. Yeah, I've worked with a couple of female directors, now, and I think that they're amazing. As good or better than guy directors.
Alia Shawkat
#83. 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
#84. One would hope that you would have a CBO director who does not let ideology get in the way of making good estimates, [Congress] values having a credible institution that they can rely on to give them the best estimates possible.
Alice Rivlin
#85. I never had any classes or went to theatre school like a lot of actors, so all of my training has been on stage with different directors. That was a pretty good school room.
James Denton
#86. I have worked with several art directors and production designers who are just magnificent. Dave Getz, Paul Felix, Ian Gooding ... just amazing artists, and I would say, if I had anything to do with it, I just pick good artists!
Roy Conli
#87. 'Rent' was a special project for me. It was my first notable screenplay job. I worked with two wonderful directors on it, starting with Spike Lee in the summer of 2001. I wrote a draft for Spike and he was really good to me.
Stephen Chbosky
#88. There are plenty of bad actors and there are plenty of bad directors. There are actors who will always be bad and there are good actors who you cry for because they're being badly directed or the material isn't good enough.
Mike Leigh
#89. I've worked with many directors, good ones and bad ones. So if I have a chance to work the good ones, I better put myself in their hands, and trust them, because that's my big opportunity to be different, and to be better than usual.
Thomas Kretschmann
#90. Directors sometimes have good ideas that I wished I'd had, not on rewriting but simply on staging.
Tom Stoppard
#91. But on this show, it's a good question because in the 35 shows that we've done now, I've really made a consistent effort to really shadow the directors because in many ways they have to be more prepared than feature directors.
Anthony Michael Hall
#92. There are certain directors where you know you're going to be good or you're not going to be there. There are people where you kind of know that if you miss the mark then it'll probably not be in the movie and that's very reassuring.
Christopher Walken
#93. Television in America is so elaborate. There are so many remote cranes, and they have all the toys to play with. The directors are really good. They really work with you. So, I'm not really on set thinking, "Oh, my God, this is television. It's very different."
Franka Potente
#94. All FILM directors are good actors, because you have to understand actors in order to program them.
Henry Johnson Jr
#95. 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
#96. There's nothing really original. Alien was a B-movie. Five directors passed on it before me. Because I was into Heavy Metal, I read it, and thought, "Wow, I want to do this." I was on a plane to Hollywood in 22 hours. It was a B-movie and was elevated to an A-plus movie by sheer good taste.
Ridley Scott
#97. I don't think Hollywood makes many good films anymore. How many directors can you really trust to have an artistic vision, not a corporate vision or a watered-down communal one?
Nick Cave
#98. I've run into some S.O.B. directors, but I gave them back as good as I got.
Carroll O'Connor
#99. When you work on big commercial movies, of course there's more money involved and you can still do some good work. But with an independent, you get films that are really close to the writers' and directors' heart. Somehow it becomes a little deeper. A little more meat and not as much flash.
Dennis Haysbert
#100. I think every director has a different take, some are good, some are bad. The directors you get on best with sometimes don't make the best films, so who's to say who is right.
Tim Roth
