Brian Helgeland Quotes

Every film by Will Smith, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Lena Horne, Ruby Dee, Don Cheadle will have great acting and carry good messages in the film. The films starring those actors are the films I tell young people to watch for good acting and to view for quality movies.

I like most of the Humphrey Bogart movies because they had to act then, and they acted very well. Edward G. Robinson is probably the best actor I've ever seen on the movies.

For 'Regulate,' I was at home, and I came up with it. I was listening to Michael McDonald's 'I Keep Forgettin'.' It was a record that I always loved, from being a kid and my parents playing it when they had their company of friends over. It was a record that just stuck in my head, and it just felt good.

I really don't think of my work in terms of a genre. I think of it in terms of what I want to say, what I think is cool, and what I'm good at.

I've always wanted to be like the Hollywood Golden Age actors.

My dad was kind of a pool shark and had a Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin thing going on. I've always been fascinated by the fifties because of him. There was a hip, cool, anything-goes atmosphere back then, but looking good was still a priority.

My favorite actors when I was a kid were in their '60s. Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne.

Every so often when I'm writing, a character might actually be a distinct person in my head - often not an actor or a face, literally a person who just seems to exist in my imagination. Then the challenge is finding somebody who is close enough to that to make me feel like I've ended up where I wanted to be.

My favourite actors are all dead or dying. I just love Jimmy Stewart, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn - I was named after her - and Cary Grant. I just love old black and white movies and the stars in them. It must have been a great time to be in Hollywood.

For some reason, the movies in the '40s have the best personalities: Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper, Betty Grable, Gene Tierney, and all those people. For some reason, I seem to gravitate more toward the '40s, and I don't necessarily know why. I just love the people.

I have a folder of scraps and pieces of paper with stuff, ideas for songs from the last 25 years; just little things, maybe early songs that I finished, but didn't think they were good enough.

I have an acting crush on Gene Hackman; I have an acting crush on Tommy Lee Jones. Gary Cooper. Jimmy Cagney. Michael Gambon. Simon Russell Beale.

Jimmy Stewart and Lucille Ball were so unique.

Working with Robin Williams, and Bob Hopkins, and Dustin Hoffman and you're talking about 'gods,' really, in our industry. You look at legends everyday. It was so impactful to me as a young artist.

As a child I wanted to be a kind of hybrid of Ferris Beuller, Ace Ventura, Bette Midler, and Lucille Ball.

My fondest memories are of being hidden away in Scotland or Spain writing and working on songs for Wings.

My favorite player growing up was Wayne Chrebet, and the day I met him was one of the best days of my life. It's something I'll never forget, no matter who your role models are, no matter who you look up to.

Just growing up on 'Friday Night Lights,' other dramas, that kind of shaped my childhood. The fact that I can have one talking about my life - it's insane.

It usually starts with the director and any other creatives who may be involved at the start. It's a collaboration. I bring what I have naturally and, hopefully, what they cast me for, and then we start playing and tweaking until we have what they feel's right. It helps to have some artwork to inspire me, but I don't always get that luxury.

The process of starting up a new film is one of looking through a lot of material and trying to find something you really like. And it does sometimes take a minute.

Avicii's melodies were so simple and cool, and they were actually similar to the melodies I played on piano. I thought if I could teach myself how to produce and get those melodies out of my head and into the computer, maybe I could make some cool music, too.

Aren't we all 'Star Trek' fans? That's the show that captured our imaginations after cartoons and everything!

There's something really cool about taking oily coloured paste and pushing it around with these hairy sticks and making something that looks like you. That's the magic of painting.

Movies were the biggest influence on me when I was a kid.

I've done stuff in the past and followed in the footsteps of my heroes, and each time, it felt a little bit surreal.