Michelle Forbes Quotes

Good actors are a dime a dozen, but I want actors that are gonna be part of my team and collaborative.

I depend on good editors and a good director.

Most development doesn't make it to series. So you want the writer and director to have a really good experience with development because, if it doesn't work out, you want to work with them again. You have to know their work really well, know the drafts really well, and when you give notes, you need to have really thought them through.

I really think that as good of a job as you do as a writer, you're absolutely indebted to the actors that have to deliver that material.

Twyla Tharp put it together from the material I wrote and recorded over my whole career. I thought it was pretty good, but how objective could I be?

As an actor, I love the feeling of being on set and the camaraderie of working on something together.

With any of the movies I've had a chance to do, or any of the TV shows I've had a chance to contribute to, people approach me and say, 'Hey, would you like to do this?' I laugh out loud and say, 'Yes, that'd be funny.' Or, I'm very moved by what I read and say, 'Yes. How can I help you?'

I get to be in a room with other actors, but I never, or very rarely, get the chance to be in a room with another director.

Writing a comic book series, you're so reliant on whoever the artist is. It truly is collaboration.

It's one of the things I love about my job: it's my job to help a director tell the story, to just be willing to help.

Filmmaking is so heavy: there are so many people and trucks and teamsters and costume people and hair people and makeup people. I try to make it light and as simple as possible. It's great for actors. It puts the story up front. It's not about shots and dollies and lighting and sets.

It's great being an actor and being part of a play or a film where there's usually quite a big group of people who are collaborating, and your job is really to fit in and share that energy. With music, because I write the songs, it's a broader, more abstract process.

When you got a great cast around you, it makes the story easier to tell, to be honest.

There's a fairy story called the 'The Shoemaker and the Elves' where this old cobbler keeps leaving leather out overnight and wakes up the next day, and there's a new pair of shoes. Co-authoring is a little like that. You send off the manuscript to your partner, and a few days later, you check your email, and hey, there's more book in here!

Whenever you do a film, it's always like a little miracle. So many people getting together trying to do something so that the audience can be entertained.

Every film is a human encounter. It's people trying to collaborate and create something together.

It's good to work with a writer-director.

I choose films preferably based on content, and then I see the kind of team I have to work with.

I want to be around people that are just as enthusiastic about the process and storytelling as I am.

'Monsters of God' isn't just a series close to my heart; it is my heart, and I am very much looking forward to working with my fantastic team in New Mexico to create a top-notch series.

You cannot sit at home at act. You need a story, a director, you need people to believe in you, to put you through that journey. It is not something you can attain within yourself.

I have had so many team-mates who have been technically better than me.

More often than not as a quarterback, your performance is a reflection of the guys around you. I've been fortunate to be around some pretty good guys.

For me, you have to do as much work as you can beforehand and, once you get on stage or set, throw it out the window because you need to be collaborative. You shouldn't have too many ideas about where it goes before you get into the room with the director and other actors.

Directing is such a high. It's the hardest job ever, but I really love doing it.