James Wan Quotes

I just felt that if I went into Speed 2, I just... wouldn't have come up out of the water.

I would never do something like Speed 2 again. If I'd wanted to make those kind of movies I could have signed up for five of them while it was in the can. It wasn't worth it to me. That was just an innocuous, boring movie.

For me, it was a lot of pressure to make another movie after 'Inglourious Basterds' because I didn't want to do something wrong. I wanted to have a beautiful project for another American movie.

I gave up writing blurbs because you make one friend and 200 enemies.

I’d rather somebody hate what I do than be indifferent to it.

I follow the director's lead because they generally know more about the big picture, but I also trust that the director will give me enough freedom to play.

There's a funny thing that, in film now, everybody thinks that the director does everything, and in TV, everybody thinks that the writer does everything, and I'm quite comfortable with that as a director. I don't mind that.

Even bigger directors like Mani Ratnam and Ram Gopal Varma have faced flak, that doesn't mean they've shied away from filmmaking.

When I started off as a choreographer, I had to do songs, which I may have wanted to do differently, but directors had their own inputs to give. But now, I take liberty to decide my own dance steps as well.

If I choose to direct something, it's because I don't think it would get accepted.

Scorsese has very defined ideas about how to shoot a scene, and he's an editor himself - we cut together. It means he's constantly thinking about my problems while he's filming.

When I decided to work with Krishna Vamsi, people around me were apprehensive about my decision. They warned me that I shouldn't work with an unsuccessful director.

To be an actor, you have to be self-obsessed, but when you are a filmmaker, you get a macro view. Every aspect of making the film is under your purview. And for me, that is a bigger turn-on than just being an actress.

I have refused money sometimes for a film. I have refused films when I felt that it was not for me. When it was just a job or just about making money, I said no. I wanted to make every film count, and when you are true to yourself, this gives you a certain integrity and a certain reputation.

I get so much backlash in Hollywood.

There's not one person at any club I've been at who would turn around and say I'm a bad egg, it's only been at Aston Villa. That speaks volumes.

I wanted to direct more than I wanted to act. And I found I couldn't do everything.

As an actor, we can only do what the director wants. Only the director has a vision of the entire film.

I don't know if I can see myself writing another 'Saw' film. It's such a special part of my life, and I almost don't want to ruin it by going back.

I got booed a lot of places.

An actor can never voice his opinion through films. All an actor does is convey what the director and writer want to say. You are a mouthpiece of their ideas. Your ideas reflect only in your choice of movies.

As an actor, you tell part of a story. As a writer, you get more of telling that story. But as a director, they're seeing the world through your eyes.

Well, I know that George Lucas doesn't like it at all. When I was working on The Illustrated Star Wars Universe, he told me that he would be happy if every copy could be tracked down and smashed.

As an actor, most of the time, you only have so much say in how, what and where things go. As a director, you really get to paint a bigger picture. You have many more brushes to use.

There's no point in it unless it's a story that you really want to tell. It's a nebulous job. Unless you're doing it well, you're not doing anything. And there are a few of those. It's perfectly possible to be a passenger on a film set because if somebody else has written it, you can make nothing of that role and that's exactly what bad directors do.