Alan Ball Quotes

All Shondaland shows have a level of intelligence, a level of humor, a level of pathos and human connection.

Write the best story that you can and write it as straight as you can.

You know, that kind of coldness, you know. And I think, yeah, I think that definitely helped. The female characters on the show, you can see some of them wanting to know what makes him tick. And I guess that translates into some of the fans outside. You know?

Our job is to represent the truth of human nature, whether you're playing a tender love story that's set in a coffee shop or whether you're in 'The Avengers,' which is set in a Manhattan which is exploding.

I think 'Game Of Thrones' has been genius, and I really don't want it to end. Every episode is huge. It's totally immense, and the actors are all fantastic in it. It has totally drawn me in.

Characters can be mysterious and you're not really sure which way they might turn at a given point.

There are so many romantic comedies made, but very few dramas or love stories. And with a love story, you have to take time to develop three-dimensional characters.

Romcoms are challenging, but I'm hungry for drama.

The movies and TV shows I like to watch tend to put their characters in situations where they have to dig deeper.

With television, I worked on 'Lost,' where you'd just put your faith in the writers and go with what they're writing.

I love to evoke the bones and meat and thoughts of characters.

The 'Twilight' movies are great in their own right, but they certainly don't have any sense of humor to them.

In terms of 'Ray Donovan,' the story is so rich, the actors are so fantastic, the writing is impeccable. And it's such beautiful storytelling with complex characters.

I love 'Lost' and 'Mission: Impossible III.'

Dramatic shows are the ones that I am attracted to.

I love doing the nighttime soap, the emotional, psychological, hard stuff that I got to tackle on 'Hannibal.'

People want a story - and my horror films have never been about only ghosts and spirits. They have their share of love, hatred, jealousy and complexity of relationships involved.

'Southland' was really where I learned so much about drama.

It's intriguing to me, when I see a horror script, or something like that, that's actually original. I think that's why I love 'Stranger Things,' because it's not just horror, it's everything, and when they use horror it's right.

If I really knew how to do good storytelling, I would be a writer. Mystery is not a huge part of it. ... It's tension, it's relationships. I think it's a struggle.

I try to keep my characters raising more questions than giving answers. I don't want to leave too much on the table. I want you to have your connection and your secret understanding of the character.

With 'The Office' and 'Extras' I've always snuck in a little bit of heart and pathos - and drama, which is fun.

I'm such a fan of Deadwood. I love the characters in that. They're such wonderful characters. I'm a fan of The Wire. Those are all heavily character-based shows.

To a large extent, people's interest in the character is the mystery of the character.

Like anything, you've gotta find the humanity in the characters.